Immortalis
by Amanda Howlett
Summary: Morgana Watson was just a smartass runaway girl, not looking for friends or a home. But that all changed the day she got caught between a battle between Magneto and the X-Men. Now suddenly she finds herself at the X-Mansion after Wolverine takes an odd interest in her, deciding that her running is over. How will her presence affect the X-Men and how will they change her in turn?
1. Chapter 1

Immortalis

DISCLAIMER

I do not own the X-Men, the characters, or the universe itself. Morgana is mine and that's about it. Please don't sue me, Stan Lee.

Chapter One

Morgana Watson had gotten very used to being on her own, thank you very much. She would happily disagree with anyone who told her that no man was an island; perhaps that just proved that women were indeed the stronger sex. She had been on her lonesome for the past two years and she was managing quite well.

Well, perhaps "quite well" was an overstatement. Being homeless and making your way across the country by yourself as a young woman was not the easiest or safest feat to accomplish. Certainly full meals were hard to come by when you had no money and she didn't stay in one place long enough to get a job and make any money. But she could usually get enough work during the day to pay for a small meal at night and her clothes to be refreshed before she moved on to the next town.

She never stayed in one town too long. That wasn't safe and besides, her restlessness drove her onward. Morgana had managed to get from one side of the country to the next and halfway back again in the past year with hitchhiking and walking. She didn't exactly have any set destination…was she searching for some place in particular? She didn't really know. All she knew was keeping on the move meant relative safety and so she kept on her solo journey, back straight and head up every step of the way.

On this particular Thursday morning, she was making her way through crowded New York City. Crowded cities were her absolute least favorite place to be but it was also easy to lose herself in the crowd and pretend for a little while that she was just another body moving in a giant sea of bodies moving along their way. It was kind of a nice feeling for a little while, just to be another person in the crowd…almost like, briefly, she belonged.

Of course she didn't belong but it was still nice to pretend for a little while.

It was around lunchtime and already there was a heavy chill in the air. It was the end of August and that meant that colder weather was well on it's way. Morgana also detested the cold and figured that meant it was time to make her way towards the south. Nothing much left up north except for colder states, more snow, and besides she wasn't going to north Canada at the beginning of winter.

Been there, made that mistake.

Stepping out of the crowd, Morgana hefted her backpack higher up on her shoulders and moved to stand in a narrow alleyway to observe the crowds. She worried her lip with her teeth as she tried to decide what she should do. Stay in the city to try and find work or try to catch a ride for the suburbs? She could probably find a farm that might need some work done for the day, enough to put a good meal in her stomach and a barn full of hay to crash in for the night. It would be warm, certainly, and she hadn't had a good, long night's sleep in quite a while. It didn't sound like a half bad idea….

Morgana had made up her mind and was just about to step out of the shadows and off the sidewalk to pursue finding someone she could bum a ride from when something inside her stopped her. She had been blessed or cursed with fantastic natural instincts and she had learnt the hard way during the past two years to always listen to her gut. So far, it hadn't been wrong and it was screaming at her not to move, to stay pressed into the shadows.

 _Wait._

In near slow motion, the ground in the middle of the busy street suddenly exploded open. People who were walking back and forth flew backwards, some of them flying straight in the air. The sound of the ground exploding was deafening but the shrieking and shouts of everyone in the area seemed to blot out any other form of noise.

Morgana hadn't been near enough to the blast to be knocked over but she stumbled backwards further into the alleyway. She nearly tripped over her feet and fell backwards but shot her hand out to grip at the wall to steady herself. The sounds of screaming echoed from the street along with other smaller sounds of explosions.

Even though she was sure her instincts should be telling her to turn tail and run through the alleyways to find a viable escape route, somehow Morgana found herself cautiously inching forward to the mouth of the alleyway. Even though it could have been a gas pipe explosion or something of the like, something told her something big had caused that explosion. Something not quite natural.

How right she was.

Clutching the side of the alley, Morgana crouched down a little and peeked out. She would watch the chaos from a safe distance and the second things got too hot, she was out. No heroics.

Well, the sidewalk was completely demolished. There was now a massive hole where people had been walking and people were either laying sprawled out in awkward angles on the sidewalk, moaning loudly in apparent agony and injury or else they were screaming and running from the chaos. But what was truly terrifying was the figure floating above the hole.

He was clad in some kind of armor, a brutal mixture of blood red and royal purple. A cape billowed out behind him in the breeze and his face was partially obscured by a metal helmet; all you could see was his eyes, two green orbs glowing in a feverish light as they swept back and forth to observe the pain and fear stretching out before him.

It seems he was the cause of the explosion. Morgana wasn't sure how but she was very certain based on the fact he was floating above the hole that he was the cause of it. The floating thing alone was enough to freak her out.

Obviously he was a mutant. That fact alone didn't bother her much – it instantly put her on edge because mutant usually meant the normal people would be antsy and fights could happen – but the explosions were definitely a buzzkill for anyone.

Morgana was just about to decide she had seen enough and that it was time for her appearance in New York to meet a hasty end when a red blast shot from the crowd somewhere and hit the floating mutant in a brilliant display of color and energy. The screams which had soften slightly built up again as the floating figure was knocked backwards out of the sky.

Morgana held her breath, wondering if that was the end of that. But suddenly, the figure shot back up in the air and he did not look happy at all.

"Cyclops, what a rude introduction. I was hoping for a little more civility." He spoke loudly enough that Morgana could hear from where she was crouched in hiding. His voice had a slightly foreign accent to it and he didn't sound too terribly angry for someone that had just been blasted from the sky with an energy beam.

He just sounded a bit disappointed, as though with a child who just displayed a shocking lack of manners and decorum.

Morgana twisted her head around and realized the crowd had parted and she could finally see more of the action. Standing on the sidewalk about 30 feet from where she hid was a small group of people. They were all dressed in similar black uniforms and standing at the front of them was the apparent leader, a tall and lean man with a red visor covering his eyes. He seemed to be the "Cyclops" that the floating man had addressed.

This was all starting to get weirder and weirder as the moments ticked by but there was something familiar about it all….

"Magneto, I am asking you now to stop. We know you were visiting the Murdocks and we're not going to sit ideally by if you're going to threaten a peaceful community of mutants." Cyclops shouted up at him, his voice laden with authority.

"My dear Cyclops! Who was to say I was threatening anyone? I was just paying them a little visit to express my concern about their horrid living conditions, that's all." His voice was too pleasant, dripping charm and manner. Morgana figured he was lying about his good intentions, based solely on how he didn't seem to mind his explosion from underground caused massive damage and injury.

Something inside her brain clicked together. Magneto…Magneto…wait just a damn minute, she knew that name! Everyone who watched even the smallest amount of news knew that name. He was a famous mutant terrorist who was constantly making demands of the government, random terrorist attacks, killing innocent people in his bid for superiority of mutants over humans. He was a major player in the small war between the humans and the mutants, one of the main reasons the government distrusted the mutant movement so much.

And based on the fact the small handful of uniformed stood in apparent opposition of Magneto, they practically screamed that they were the famed X-Men. The heroes of mutants everywhere and the good guys who tried to keep the crazy mutants from causing too much trouble.

Basically, it was like a horrific news scene come to life and Morgana was right in the middle of it. Almost literally.

She decided this was definitely not someplace she should be and if they started fighting, people could be injured accidentally very easily. And injuries meant traveling would be very uncomfortable and screw that happening. Looks like it was time for her to find a quiet moment to slip through the alleyways and find some poor uninjured sap to give her a ride out of the city. Pronto.

"My dear X-Men, I would love to stay here and chat but I find myself needing to rest after this long day. I will be departing but never fear! Some of my followers have delightfully volunteered to stay behind and chat with you all for a while longer." Magneto announced regretfully and spread his arms, slowly starting to rise higher above the sidewalk. As he talked, out of the hole he hovered above, about 10 figures began to climb out, some of them very obviously mutant with tails and claws and one with a long forked tongue that he used to propel himself forward.

Those must be members of the "Brotherhood of Evil Mutants". Yep, this was definitely turning into a news story Morgana was not willingly to be featured in. It was most definitely time to exit.

"Not so fast, metalhead!" One of the X-Men growled suddenly and launched himself forward. He was smaller than Cyclops and when he leapt forward into the air, three pieces of metal shaped like blades suddenly expelled from between his knuckles on both hand. They were like massive claws and he pointed them straight at Magneto as he snarled a wild battle cry.

As he went to attack Magneto, the rest of the Brotherhood reached the other 5 members of the X-Men and the battle commenced. It suddenly became pure, unadulterated chaos.

Perfect time for Morgana to make her escape while they were all distracted. And she was just about to turn her back on the fight and slink through the shadows to escape when the small figure suddenly stopped in midair.

Magneto had a hand raised and somehow, that stopped the smaller X-Man and suspended him in midair in front of him.

"Oh Wolverine. You poor, simple-minded creature. Haven't we danced this dance before? I really thought better of you." The villainous mutant sighed and the X-Man – Wolverine, it seems? It fit his claws, that's for sure - snarled in apparent fury and pain. He looked so desperate to reach just an inch or two out to slash at Magneto but something kept him suspended. But not for long.

Magneto waved his hand to the side and Wolverine slammed into the building next to the alley Morgana was hiding in, slamming hard enough into the cement wall to leave a dent before crashing hard into the ground. He definitely wasn't moving and there was too much chaos with his teammates for them to come check on him even though they definitely saw him attacked.

Morgana froze.

This was still the perfect time to leave. No one was paying attention to her and really, why stay? The X-Men were famous for handling these situations, the Brotherhood hated normal humans, and Morgana didn't have any kind of super awesome ability that could prove useful to either of them in this case. Saving her own skin definitely made sense.

Though she was worried about that Wolverine….he wasn't moving and no one was paying him any attention…

 _Never mind, never mind! We've gotta run. We're all we have and thus we're most important._

Morgana shook her head and turned for a third time to leave when she realized that the X-Men were so concerned with taking out the rest of the brotherhood that they hadn't noticed they were missing one. Slithering his way up to Wolverine's prone body was the creepiest of the Brotherhood. He was tiny and had sickly yellow skin, a little bit of green tingeing the side of his face. Out of his mouth hung a massive tongue that he used to lick the air and help propel him forward as he slinked his way along the sidewalk.

He looked like a disgusting, human frog. What a terrible curse of a power, to be sure.

"Oooh, lucky day for Toad! Wolverine is all mine…the boss is gonna be so happy with me! Finally, I might get some praise." He croaked – yes, he actually sounded like he was croaking when he talked – and he practically rubbed his hands together in glee. He reached out with his hands and leaned forward, probably intending to strangle Wolverine before he came back to life. At least he seemed like he'd strangle him with his hands and not his giant tongue because, really, that would truly be the worst way to die.

Morgana snarled quietly in her head.

 _He isn't your problem! I'm sure his friends will notice soon. Right? RIGHT? You are NOT going to play the hero! You have no useful power and you can't fight. This is stupid!_

But her eyes had cast on a rather large hunk of sidewalk rubble sitting at the mouth of the alleyway and for whatever reason, she just couldn't make herself turn around and run. It's what she should have done and nothing bad would probably happen to Wolverine if she did run. He was a big boy and he'd either wake up or his friends would rescue him. He was not her problem and she wouldn't be a help to anyone.

So, naturally…she reached down, grabbed the rock, and moved stealthily towards the Frog Man to save the day.

A/N:

Good first chapter, I hope! I have about 19 more chapters currently written so expect pretty frequent uploads once I edit them :)


	2. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER

I do not own the X-Men, the characters, or the universe itself. Morgana is mine and that's about it. Please don't sue me, Stan Lee.

Chapter Two

The sounds of battle made Frog Man twitchy and he kept looking over his shoulder back at the battle even as he moved towards Wolverine. But he wasn't looking up towards the alleyway or off to the side, which was the direction Morgana slowly moved in from.

She circled around him, exiting the alleyway and hiding behind a car as she used it for cover. After only a few seconds, she was right behind him. Since he was twitchy and kept looking over his shoulder, she knew she had to time this right and move in without any hesitation. More than anything, she didn't want to miss or be discovered and then have to deal with that slimy tongue of his. She had a feeling she'd prefer death over that.

"Time to say goodbye to the famous Wolverine." Frog Man muttered and wrapped his hands around the mutant's throat, beginning to squeeze and squeeze.

"Goodbye." He jolted upright but it wasn't in time. Morgana slammed the rock into the back of his head as hard as she could. He let out a weird little moan and slammed face forward into the side of the building before sliding down it next to the prone body of Wolverine.

 _Wonderful job. Now what?_

Morgana stood with wide eyes, staring between Frog Man and the rock in her hand. She didn't quite think it was going to work that well but she guessed having a rock slammed into the back of your head was enough to knock anyone out, mutant ability or not.

 _You've saved the day, you're a hero. Now what? Mutie is still knocked out and Frog Boy could wake up at any moment. Not to mention there's still a battle going on that you don't want to be involved with…you can handle one guy with a rock but those mutants have serious powers._

Morgana ignored the little voice in the back of her head and instead tossed her rock off to the side…but not too far away. Just in case she ended up needing it again to use on someone. Now that her hands were free and the mutant was saved, she figured running would be an excellent idea. But for whatever reason, she found herself instead moving forward and crouching down next to the passed out mutant superhero. It worried her that he wasn't awake yet.

"Hey…claw-dude…I think you'd better wake up now." Morgana whispered, crouching down and touching his shoulder. He wasn't moving yet so she tried again.

"Seriously, wake up. Your friends….need you….maybe?" Morgana said louder and started to grip his shoulder and gave him a few firm shakes. Almost the second she started moving his shoulder, something happened.

His eyes snapped open and locked onto hers. His lips drew back in a fearsome scowl and hardly before she could open her mouth and say "oh thank god you're not dead", he lunged forward. Morgana let out a helpless squeak and fell back onto her ass on the pavement, her elbows catching her hard.

Wolverine was up in a crouch and leaning forward, claws out and pointed at her chest in an instant.

"Who the fuck are you?" He snarled and she swore she could hear him sniffing her as he leaned forward, claws dangerously close. He took in every inch of her appearance, from the top of her black hair all the way down to her dirty tennis shoes. She didn't think she looked like a threat but then again, she didn't want to take a chance, not with those wicked looking claws.

"Woah, take it easy, claw-boy." Morgana swallowed and her eyes dropped from his face to stare at those claws. "I wasn't the one who was trying to strangle you!" Wolverine opened his mouth to say something – probably ask what the hell that even meant – when Morgana's eyes widened.

"Watch out!" She yelled and grabbed the rock that was conveniently laying beside her. Wolverine ducked and turned around just in time to see her rock slam into Frog Man's face as he rose up menacingly – more like, dazed-ly considering the shocked looked on his face – behind Wolverine's back. He fell over with a groan and didn't move again.

Wolverine looked back down at her, snarl gone.

"You almost hit me with the rock!"

Morgana flashed him a sheepish smile. "I figured you'd duck. If you didn't, then maybe it would have knocked a little sense into you."

"What the hell is that suppose to mean?" Snarl was definitely back.

"It means don't just prematurely ejaculate those claws onto every unsuspecting girl you see. Seriously, the hell you think I was doing? I'm 5'1 and was lightly shaking your shoulder and suddenly I've got a face full of claws! I don't need no goddang acupuncture, thank you very much."

Wolverine looked like he was going to argue back but a voice cut through both of their conversation.

"Well, thanks for all the assistance, Wolverine. Please, don't get up, we've got it." A heavily accented voice called from across the way. Wolverine glanced with a scowl over his shoulder and Morgana took that opportunity to stand up and dust herself off. It seems that while they talked – and she threw rocks at Frog Man's face – the rest of his team of X-Men had handled the rest of the Brotherhood. They were certainly the only ones still standing and they were staring at Wolverine and his female companion.

"It wasn't like he was napping on the job. In case you missed it, he high fived the wall with his face." Morgana supplied helpfully, causing Wolverine to whip his head around to stare at her. She shrugged and muttered that it was a true fact.

The rest of the X-Men made their way over to the pair and Morgana took this moment to take note of everyone. Outside of Cyclops and Wolverine, there was a medium sized man with red hair and strange glowing red eyes. He was the one who spoke with the accent and he held in one hand a steel bo-staff of some sort and in the other a deck of cards that he was now absently flipping through. He stood next to a woman with long white hair who looked kind and was talking lowly with a another woman with long red hair who stood a little too close to Cyclops. The strangest looking member of the motely crew ended up being a smaller man who was covered in blue fur.

 _Interesting group of mutants. Don't look like they belong together at all but hey, whatever works…works. But you don't do groups and this is getting awkward. Exit stage right!_

"And who are you, miss? Were you hurt in the fight?" The redheaded chick was the one talking now, as Wolverine stood up but didn't return to the group.

"I'm fine. I managed to avoid all the fun."

"Are you sure? You were on the ground…"

"Oh, I just fell over when I startled your friend here but I'm –"

Wolverine interrupted her. "She knocked Toad out with a rock." He announced, an odd gleam in his eyes. Everyone turned their heads, just now noticing Toad.

"Yeahhh, that. Well, he was trying to strangle you so I hit him in the back of the head with a rock and I guess I didn't do it hard enough to sever his spinal cord cause he was up and trying again after I woke your friend up. No biggie." Morgana brushed that aside, uncomfortable with how Wolverine hadn't looked away from her.

"Anyway, I should be going. It's getting late and the cops and the army will probably be here soon…" She trailed off awkwardly, realizing she was having an almost casual conversation with a group of mutant superheroes after a massive battle between good and evil.

"Are you certain you're not injured? Maybe we should escort you to a hospital, child." The dark-skinned woman with the crazy white hair was talking now. Of course it was the women to act concerned and motherly. The men just stood around looking bored or confused as to why they were still there after the battle was over.

"It's okay, I'm really fine. Besides, I've stayed too long and I really should be going." Morgana assured them and started to edge backwards slightly, hoping she could beat a hasty retreat. Leaving situations without getting awkward about them was so not her forte.

"Where are you headed?" Wolverine questioned suddenly, his sharp eyes shifting over her body.

"Away."

"You're just a kit. Where's away, huh? Home?"

"Yeah, I'm not big on that home thing." Morgana grunted, her good mood starting to fade a little at the questioning.

"Do you not have a home or place to stay for the night?" White-haired chick was back to questioning.

"Look, I'm fine. Just a random girl who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, okay? I'm not injured, ya'll obviously have legal paperwork to file after potentially killing a bunch of people…really, I'm not worth the worry."

Wolverine snorted and moved a little closer to her, his arms crossing over his chest.

"Look kit, I didn't need tha' help but you kept me safer until I woke up and I owe ya for that. So come with us to our mansion. We'll give ya a meal and a warm bed for the night and then you can leave tomorrow." Wolverine offered, causing the redheaded chick and Cyclops to share a surprised look. Morgana had a suspicion that the offer was not normal…either the mansion was some kind of super secret hideout or Wolverine was not behaving in his usual manner.

 _Absolutely not._

"I don't really do mansions. Secret superhero hideouts give me hives." Morgana hedged, not looking thrilled at the idea of staying in New York for yet another night. Especially after all the action this morning.

"Tough shit. I'm not having you run off into the sunlight without me paying back my debt to ya." Wolverine growled and she jumped, not quite sure if she was going to have an actual choice in this matter or not.

"Wolverine, you can't invite strangers to the mansion. She'd know who we are and our base of operation. How do we know we can trust her?" Cyclops complained, looking about as thrilled about this offer as if Wolverine had said he wanted to adopt a stray kitten off the street.

Morgana didn't really mind Wolverine's snarling and his demanding tone. He had a purely animal feel to him at moments and an alpha needed to exert his dominance, after all. But Cyclops? No, he just seemed like an uptight authoritarian figure and those were her least favorite type of people.

"Ah yes, you've caught on to me. I'm obviously a secret government spy sent here to save one of your members and slowly gain your trust in a complicated ploy to take down the X-Men. What gave me away? Was it my super intimidating Disney Princess backpack or my sexy unwashed hair?" Morgana quipped with a humorless smile, hand instantly going to rest on her hip.

"I'm not insinuating you're a spy, just that – "

"Just that you can't trust me. Yeah, I get it…I'm sure the whole "trust no one" thing makes for a healthy lifestyle and happy social life."

"I didn't say trust no one but why the hell should I trust you? We don't even know your name!"

"I don't know yours either but I bet it's something really bland and boring to match your personality."

"Why - !"

"Children! Settle down to your opposite corners." The blue fur ball was speaking up this time, probably because everyone else was chuckling too much to interrupt the young girl and their leader sniping back and forth. Morgana didn't look embarrassed at the comment but instead switched her attention automatically over to the blue mutant.

"Look, Wolverine wants to bring this girl home and I understand that because of the nature of where we live and who we are, that is a cause of concern for our team leader. May I offer a suggestion?" The fuzzy one stated calmly, pulling a pair of glasses from his uniform pocket and sliding them up his nose. He suddenly looked very professor-y, despite his massive arms and blue fur.

"Fine, Beast. What do you suggest?"

"Really? Beast?" Morgana couldn't help but blurt out. The Beast in question smiled ironically.

"I admit, not the most subtle code name but I thought it was humorous. But in any case, here is my suggestion. We take her with us back to the mansion…she won't be able to tell where we are taking the jet anyway. Charles will meet us and he can meet with her and ascertain if we are to trust her or not. I highly doubt she's a government spy or anyone other than a girl who was in the wrong place at the wrong time but if she is anything other than what she says, Charles will inform us."

The X-Men shared a look. They all seemed on board with this idea, even though Cyclops looked as reluctant as humanely possible. Whoever this Charles guy was, he must be important if they trusted his opinion and thought he could figure out if she was a danger or not.

Morgana thought this was all insane, in any case. Of course she wasn't a threat. She was just a girl trying to hitchhike her way to warmer pastures before the winter hit and she had no intention in staying in New York or wherever the hell this mansion was for the night.

But Wolverine made a compelling point. She would enjoy a warm meal and someplace warm to stay in for the night. She didn't get warm food or a real bed that often, even if it meant getting dirty looks from Cyclops and putting herself directly in the clutches of a superhero group.

It was only one night, after all.

"Fine, she can come with us, I suppose. Storm, get the jet." The white-haired woman nodded and suddenly her eyes turned from creamy brown to pure, milky white. She rose from the ground and flew upward towards the clouds, disappearing out of sight.

Morgana shook her head. Code names and everyone could fly. This was definitely not a smart idea to go with them.

"Jean, come with me, we're going to call the professor. Beast, Gambit, stay here and check on the civilians. The ambulances will be here shortly." Cyclops shot off orders, conveniently giving Morgana everyone's names so she didn't have to keep using made up nicknames for them in her head. Though she was almost positive she was going to come up with plenty of nasty names for him instead of using his own.

Cyclops was too cool for a creep like him.

"So, you've got a name, kid?" Wolverine asked suddenly, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared down at her.

"Morgana. Do not call me Morgan or we'll have problems."

"You've got a mouth on you."

"It would be kinda hard to talk without it, yo. Your name actually Wolverine?"

"Really have to ask?"

"I've heard weirder."

"It isn't."

"Fair enough."

"At the mansion, when you meet Charles…don't bother lying. He'll know." Morgana really didn't like the sound of that and her desire to go to the mansion was lessening by the second. But there was something about how her smart-ass comments didn't bother Wolverine and how he insisted on bringing her someplace warm and full of food. She liked a man who could handle her mouth and even more so who was willing to stick up for her, even if it was out of a misguided sense of obligation.

"We'll see about that."

A/N:

Hope ya'll enjoy! Please read and review :)


	3. Chapter 3

DISCLAIMER

I do not own the X-Men, the characters, or the universe itself. Morgana is mine and that's about it. Please don't sue me, Stan Lee.

Chapter Three

Wolverine and Morgana had lapsed into half awkward, half companionable silence until Cyclops and the rest of his motley crew returned. The military was on their way to handle cleanup and it was better for all those involved if they weren't still there when they arrived. Besides, Charles was interested in them returning home as quickly as possible for whatever reason.

Cyclops led them down an alleyway and they walked for a few moments until they reached a small park nestled underneath the towering New York skyscrapers. It looked rundown and abandoned but for some reason they all stopped and stood around it. Morgana was about to ask why the hold up when suddenly, the middle of the park started shimmering.

One moment it was just an empty park and the next, there was a giant black jet sitting in the middle of the park. Morgana gaped at the sudden appearance in shock.

"Wow. That is one hell of a magic trick." She murmured and Gambit chuckled next to her.

"We da masters of magic, chere." He winked at her and Morgana quirked her lips in a smile as she followed them to the loading port. So he was a flirtatious one and based on the nickname and accent, she'd guess he had some French in him. Fascinating…she imagined he must be fun around the boring old secret meetings.

After they had all loaded up in the jet, Storm told her kindly she could sit wherever she wanted. So Morgana selected a seat as far back and away from everyone as she could and strapped herself in the window seat. She didn't really fancy making small talk with anyone there since mostly none of them seemed able to trust her that, yeah, she really, really was just a random girl who was in the wrong place and the wrong time and not some kind of top secret spy. Well, Wolverine seemed pretty chill with her but there was something in his eyes that told her he had either figured out a little too much about her or could very easily figure her out.

And she was definitely not on board with anyone figuring her out. As much as she hated being the mysterious drifter, there was no way in hell she was revealing any of her details, especially not to a top-secret possibly government funded superhero mutant group. That was just all kinds of red flags.

The plane flight took a surprising amount of time. Morgana expected hours and maybe a mysterious storm or crossing an ocean. But they seemed to be in the air for all of 10 minutes before they passed over the top of a massive building that looked more like a school or hospital then a mansion. They hovered over a basketball court and she watched with some amusement as suddenly it cracked in half and pulled the courts apart, revealing a landing pad for the jet.

They descended upon the pad and it slowly sunk back into the earth and the basketball court closed over their heads. That was legit cool, Morgana had to admit; maybe this superhero stuff wasn't so bad all the time.

"Well, we're here. I'll bring you to meet Professor Xavier."

Morgana paused midstep.

"Wait…is that you guys' boss?" Cyclops shared a glance with redheaded Jean chick.

"He is our founder, so I believe the answer would be yes." Jean replied.

Morgana started laughing.

"Really? Professor Xavier and his "X-Men". Is he really super narcissistic or did he go for the irony name?" She cackled and had to brace a hand against the wall to keep from hunching over. Cyclops looked positively purple with mounting fury at his boss being insulted but Wolverine laughed loudly.

"I said the same thing, kid. At least Cyke here isn't tryin' to take a swing at ya." Wolverine informed her and she grinned back at him, finding this all very amusing. The rest of the X-men exited the jet and disappeared down various hallways and Cyclops led her and Wolverine through a set of steel doors that opened automatically.

"Try to keep those comments to yourself when you meet him, will you? At the very least try to be more civil. He's a great man and deserving of respect." Cyclops lectured her as Morgana followed him down several metal, sterile looking hallways with Wolverine trailing after them. She wasn't entirely sure why Wolverine was trailing them; it seems showing possible traitor-spy-guests to the Professor was Cyclops' job and they obviously didn't get along very well in any case. But yet there he was, stalking after them like a giant wolf in human's clothing.

Morgana was confused if this was reassuring or nerve-wracking.

After another long, metallic hallway they reached a stairway that led up to a wooden door. Cyclops reached the top and opened it, holding it open for her and Wolverine.

Stepping out, Morgana was fascinated to see she was finally standing in something that looked like a mansion. The doorway opened into a bright, open hallway made of wood stretching into the ground floor of the mansion. The ground floor was extremely open and bright, windows thrown open wide everywhere and older, classical looking furniture decorating the visible rooms.

It looked really homey and nice. Rather huge but also extremely bright and she was digging the old-fashioned vibes. One night staying here wouldn't be that bad…maybe.

Morgana remained quiet as she followed Cyclops through a giant living room with a big screen TV, plenty of sofas, and a fireplace. Down another hall, up the stairs, way more halls filled with tons of different doors, and finally they were at a closed set of doors. This was where they came to a stop.

"This is Professor Xavier's office. He's expecting you. Wolverine, you can wait here." Cyclops said, his tone suddenly dark and authoritative. As though this could control the Wolverine. Morgana snickered and glanced sideways at Wolverine and she was rewarded with seeing him rolling his eyes and pushing past Cyclops.

"Yeah, I could wait there but fuck you." He pushed open the door as Cyclops sputtered helplessly. Morgana chuckled and skipped past him as well, following Wolverine happily into the room. She was determined that he and her were not going to be friends at any time therefore seeing anyone make him look stupid made her very happy.

The room was definitely an old-fashioned type office room. It had a massive window, with a large desk placed before it, a fireplace in the corner with cozy armchairs in front of it, a chess set between them in case anyone wanted to play a casual came of chess. And sitting behind the large desk was a bald guy in a suit. He glanced up when the three of them trooped into the room and offered up a warm smile.

"Cyclops, Wolverine. It's good to see you two made it back unscathed. How did the mission go?" He asked, steeping his fingers together and resting his chin on them. He looked so…professor-y. Morgana was instantly on edge because authority figures either creeped her out or pissed her off. One of the two.

"The mission went fine, Professor. Magneto managed to get away but the Murdocks were mostly okay and no civilian causalities to report. The Brotherhood members were all apprehended, with the exception of Toad who somehow managed to sneak out. All in all, I'd say it was a success." Cyclops reported back dutifully, his boy-scout persona coming out in full. Wolverine rolled his eyes at the professionalism and stalked into the room, throwing himself into the armchair by the fire.

"Excellent. I'm thrilled at the success. And who might this young lady be?" He fixed Morgana with another warm smile and a shudder went down her spine.

Nope, authority and her did not go together well, not at all.

"This is the young lady Wolverine invited to spend the night. Morgana, this is Professor Charles Xavier. Professor, allow me to introduce you to Morgana." Cyclops introduced them stiffly, looking as thrilled to be there as most people look to get teeth pulled. Geez, what was up with him and visitors?

"It's good to meet you, child." Charles smiled politely and…wheeled himself from behind his desk.

Oh. Apparently he was handicapped. Shit, Morgana didn't do well with handicapped people.

 _Do not say something smart, do not say something smart, do not say something…_

"Soooo…is it too much to hope your super secret spy name is Scooter?" Morgana blurted out. She was almost positive you could hear Wolverine's bellowing laughter in a different county; if you couldn't hear that, you could _definitely_ hear Cyclops' wild protests. But thankfully Charles merely smiled, his smile growing a little tighter.

"Ah. I can see why Wolverine wanted you to stay the night…he had similar reactions when we were first introduced." Charles chuckled and the tension faded slightly from the room, though Cyclops still looked pissed.

"Yeah, I don't really have much of a mental filter. Anyway, I was invited to spend the night in your den of secrecy but it's cool if you think I'm a Japanese spy. That's what one-eyes over there thinks…he said you'd be able to sniff out any drugs I'm carrying." Morgana informed him calmly, not really bothered by the idea of staying or leaving. At this point she had enough fun and adventure to last the weekend, even if she didn't get food or a bed out of it.

Cyclops had the decency to look a little embarrassed at her fairly accurate description of his attitude.

"Ahhh, yes. My student has a tendency to be protective of our privacy. We're not exactly the most secretive of the superheroes roaming this city but this is my school and we are very strict about keeping our students secret from society until they're ready to move forward with their adult lives. Mutants these days are not treated kindly at all and it's better they have a safe environment to learn and grow." Charles explained and suddenly Cyclops attitude made a little more sense and the huge nature of the mansion made all the sense in the world.

"Ohhhh. So this is a school for mutants?"

"Yes, Xavier's School for Gifted Youngers, to be precise."

"Shit, you really like your name, don't you?" Wolverine laughed again.

"Err, well…it seemed like a good name at the time…"

"It's a cool name. I understand Cyclops wanting to keep the kids all safe and secure and what not. Sooo…how does sniffing out my betrayal work?"

"Well…you see, I am a telepath." Morgana stiffened and straightened up, no longer amused. Telepath…mind reader….her secrets? Oh no, oh hell no.

"Telepath? Yeah, I'd thank you to stay the fuck out of my mind and I think I'll be leaving now. Front door work okay?" Morgana announced and turned on her heel, ready to march dramatically out of there. Screw them and their nifty superhero secrets, she wasn't about to have someone else screwing around in her mind.

 _I am not here to read your thoughts or memories, child. Merely to sense your intentions here._

Having his voice suddenly appear in her mind was not pleasant. It felt like such an invasion and she fought the urge to clutch her head and freak out. Instead she tried to focus on the "not here to read your thoughts or memories" thing. That was important, at least those were safe.

Morgana turned around slowly. "Okay, fine. Are my intentions good enough for a sleepover?" She growled, her humor definitely darker now that she had the unpleasant sensation of a different voice in her head. Wolverine's eyes locked onto her face again, making her shift uncomfortably, and Cyclops seemed on the ready to blast her into next week depending on what Charles said next.

The leader of the X-Men placed his elbows on his knees and leaned forward, searching her face as he spoke in a thoughtful manner.

"I do not sense any negative intentions towards us. You're obviously not a member of the Brotherhood or anti-mutant. I also sense you understand the need to keep the secrets of the X-Men and our school and you're willing to do this. You are by no means a threat or intend to be one." Cyclops audibly breathed out and instantly relaxed, officially accepting that she wasn't some kind of hidden terrorist.

Wolverine's lips quirked in something of a smile, as though pleased something he already knew to be true was proven accurate. And of course, Morgana was somewhat happy with the announcement she wasn't secretly evil, merely because the whole situation was now bordering on idiotic and she just wanted to get away from everyone.

"However…there is something you're not telling us." Charles announced suddenly and all eyes snapped to him.

"You're a mutant and you're on the run. Now, may I ask…from what?"

A/N

Oooooh cliffhanger! DUN, DUN, DUNNNNN! Please keep reading and dropping some reviews if any of you lovelies have the time 3 Thanks so much for reading this far!


	4. Chapter 4

DISCLAIMER

I do not own the X-Men, the characters, or the universe itself. Morgana is mine and that's about it. Please don't sue me, Stan Lee.

Chapter Four

Morgana froze. She couldn't breath and didn't think she could move if she tried at this point.

 _He knew. You dropped your guard and trusted that going with these people would be okay, despite being superheroes and famous and obviously connected with the government. You should have ran the second the sidewalk exploded and now look at this mess. You've gotta run._

She pushed those thoughts down. Wolverine was suddenly sitting up and fixing her with an intense stare. It wasn't quite angry but it wasn't necessarily thrilled either. Cyclops was tensed and he moved to the Professor's side, as though he was about to have to defend his boss from some surprise attack.

"I'm not a threat. You said it yourself. I'm a harmless young girl who will now be leaving." Morgana gasped and took a step back, intent on turning and running. She could probably out run Scooter and the Boy Scout but Wolverine….

"No, you ain't going anywhere." Wolverine interrupted her plans, standing up. "I told you I owed ya a debt and I'm paying it back."

"Wolverine, you heard the Professor! She's running from someone and she obviously has secrets. Maybe she's not dangerous but whoever she's running from could be." Cyclops exclaimed and Morgana couldn't disagree with his logic. This was a school full of kids and she could be leading Russian terrorists right to their front door for all they knew. Besides, at this point, she definitely didn't want to stay. They knew too much already and there was too much she was not going to tell.

"Everyone has secrets, one-eyes. You're not going to stand there and try to tell me that just because she's got secrets and someone might be after her that she can't stay. You're really not going to tell _me_ that." Wolverine emphasized the "me" part in a deadly soft growl, prompting a shudder from Morgana. He was a wild animal and dangerous, barely contained in the guise of being a man.

"Wolverine has a point, Cyclops. She's allowed her secrets…so long as our students will be safe." Professor Xavier's voice was warm, friendly, caring…until he got to the part about his students. Then he was deadly serious and a dangerous glint appeared in his eyes. It was like watching a mother panda suddenly get pissed at someone threatening her baby.

"I'm not a threat and…and who I'm running from shouldn't find me here."

"That's fair enough. If you're certain, then please feel free to stay as long as you want. Just remember that our identifies are secret, the fact that this is a school for mutants is not publically known, and we ask you to please respect that."

"I understand. In return, I'd appreciate it if you keep your questions about me, where I'm come from, who I'm hiding from, or anything about me being a mutant to yourself."

"Fair enough. Now, I'm sure you're hungry and tired so Cyclops, would you please show Miss Morgana to a guest room and the kitchen?" Cyclops nodded and stepped away from the Professor's side.

"Thank you, Professor. I promise I won't destroy the school." He smiled ironically.

"I trust you won't. Please, feel free to explore, rest, do whatever you want during your stay. And don't feel pressured to leave tomorrow. We have plenty of room and you are free to stay here as long as you like. Though I must warn you, class resumes next week so the peace and quiet is merely an illusion." Morgana chuckled at that and gave a theatrical curtsey.

"Thanks. Pretty sure I'll be gone bright and early. Wouldn't wanna stick around and corrupt any of the kiddies. Ciao!" Morgana followed Cyclops out of the office, Wolverine trailing behind them as he re-entered that "animal stalking prey" routine again. She figured he was going to stalk them all the way up to wherever she was being put for the night but he apparently had other ideas all together.

"You can follow me and I'll take you to your room." Cyclops informed her, gesturing her to follow him down the hallway and towards the stairs that lead to the second floor where she assumed all the guest rooms were.

"I'll show her the room." Wolverine spoke up suddenly, brushing past the both of them and assuming the lead.

"Professor Xavier said…"

"Yeah, I heard him. But you don't really want to show her anywhere and I do so tell daddy I'm taking over."

"Fine, glad to see you're finally taking an interest in being useful around here." Cyclops grumbled and stalked away down another hallway, disappearing out of sight. Morgana breathed a sigh of relief, instantly relaxing now that the Boy Scout wasn't around to suck all the fun from the room. But this did leave her alone with Wolverine and he was…not exactly easy to figure out.

"C'mon, kid." Wolverine barked and started walking, excepting her to keep up with him. Morgana followed after him, keeping a few steps behind as she made careful notes of her surroundings. They didn't see like they were violent or wanted to harm her but she couldn't ever be too careful.

Wolverine led her up the giant wooden staircase, which led to even more hallways with closed doors lining each side. She figured this was where the students lived when they were attending school; there was a damn lot of doors, so she could imagine it must be pure chaos during the school year. After a few minutes, they reached the end of the hallway and turned to the right. Down this way was a bunch of doors that were spaced farther away from each other and it seemed cleaner, more sophisticated. Obviously this was the teachers' quarters…who even taught at a mutant school anyway?

She severely doubted Wolverine was a teacher and was practically gagging at the notion of being taught by the Boy Scout. Those poor kids.

Wolverine jostled her from her thoughts by stopping at the second door on the right side of the hallway and pointed at it.

"Here. I'm sure Cyke would rather you stay in the students dorms but we never know when the kids will be back from summer and we've still got a few kids living on campus year-round. It'll be quiet in the teacher's quarters." Wolverine explained, which made sense to her.

"Oh, thanks. I mean, I'm only going to be here for a night so I'm sure it doesn't matter where I sleep but that's nice of you." Morgana said with a little smile, hesitantly opening the door and stepping inside. She didn't want to just stand around awkwardly, especially since it didn't look like Wolverine was going anywhere anytime soon. At least looking at her temporary home would give her something to do.

Morgana had to admit, it was a pretty nice room. It had two rather large windows, a queen sized bed fit snuggly between them. There was a sizable closet on the side of the room, a desk and a small bookshelf pre-loaded with a few books on the other side. And a single armchair by one of the windows with a little side table next to it, looking absolutely perfect for curling up and reading by moonlight.

This was most definitely a room she could be comfortable in for a long time. It reminded her vaguely of a room she used to call hers…a long time ago…

"You're not staying one night." Wolverine informed her calmly, leaning against the doorjamb and watching her walk around her new room and examine random objects.

"Hmmm…pretty sure I am. You invited me here for one night and I really need to get back on the road."

"You really need to get back to running, you mean?"

"I didn't use that many words but if that's what you wanna call it, sure."

"Can't run forever. Believe me, I tried. You can't ever outrun the voices in your head." Wolverine advised her, that odd glint back in his eyes that tracked her every moment like she was some kind of prey for him to hunt and devour. She shuddered at that thought, it sounding scarily too accurate. There was something odd about him but even when he creeped her out, he still was more of a straight shooter than the Professor and the Boy Scout.

"You hungry?" He switched subjects rapidly, before she could formulate a proper come back.

"Ummm, yeah. But I was hoping I could get a shower? If that isn't too much trouble."

Wolverine nodded. "No problem. It's all the way down the hall and first door on the left. I'll come back to get you for dinner in an hour then." He informed her and then just like that, he disappeared out the door and down the hall without another word. And then it was finally just her, alone with her thoughts and musings about the situation.

Morgana sat on the edge of the bed, slinging her backpack off her shoulders and placing it on the floor next to the bed. Most people would take a moment to contemplate what had happen thus far and decide on her next course of action before doing anything else. But she wasn't like most people and didn't want to just sit and think. If she did that, she'd overthink and start freaking out, then it would just be her running again to make sure she was safe.

She would think while unpacking her clothes and showering. Not that she had much to unpack or was even going to bother unpacking. Nope, first thing in the morning she was stealing some breakfast and leaving the crazy school full of mutants, catching a ride and heading south.

Crouching down next to her backpack, Morgana pulled out a clean pair of jeans and a clean shirt with undergarments and set them neatly on the bed. She also fished out her toiletry bag, filled with all her goodies that kept her relatively clean despite the fact it was ages since she last had a full shower. Cleaning yourself off in gas station bathrooms was by far one of the hardest things about being on the road. A full shower sounded like pure heaven at this point in her life.

After making sure she had everything, she placed her backpack in the chair and took up her clothes, clutching them to her chest. Down the hall and to the left…hopefully she could make it to the bathroom and make it back without running into Boy Scout or even Wolverine. She needed a little bit of peace and quiet to figure out how she was going to deal with the night and tomorrow morning.

Creeping up to her door, Morgana cracked it open slightly and glanced hesitantly out of the crack, looking right and left. The coast was clear so she opened the door up a little more and snuck out, feeling like a guilty teenager sneaking out of her parent's house at night to meet with a bad boy boyfriend. It was an odd mixture of guilt and exhilaration and Morgana had to stifle a giggle at how silly the entire situation seemed.

She tiptoed down the hallway until she reached the last doorway on the left and cracked it open. It was a pretty huge bathroom and she almost started drooling at the sheer size of the shower. They would be lucky if they ever got her to leave this bathroom, it was too glorious.

After checking and double-checking the lock, Morgana cautiously shed her clothes and stepped into the shower, turning it all the way up almost as hot as it would go. It felt absolutely amazing just to feel the hot water running over her and she audibly sighed with relief as she started scrubbing the dirt and dust from the day's activities. She noticed that here knees were a little scraped up from when Wolverine freaked out and caused her to fall over but other than that and a few bruises from the rough days on the road, she was in tip-top shape. Thank God for small favors.

As she bathed herself, Morgana started to run through the day and everything that had happened. Seeing Magneto in the flesh was definitely pretty freaky…why was it always that she was in the wrong place at the wrong time? If she had just tried to catch a ride a few minutes earlier, she would have avoided the entire attack and all the weirdness that occurred afterwards. Though, she supposed, she also would have missed out on having a delightful shower and she couldn't help but greatly enjoy that.

And those X-Men. Definitely weird. She didn't get a real chance to talk to or spend any serious time with most of them so she couldn't really judge them too much. Storm seemed nice, so did Beast…Gambit gave off serious flirty vibes but that could just be his French-ness…the Boy Scout was obnoxious, Jean was obviously not cool enough for a nickname, and then there was Wolverine and the Professor.

Professor Xavier seemed…nice. She really got the sense that he cared about the X-Men and even to a degree herself. But he was a telepath and had figured out she was running from someone and she was of the mutant variety herself. That was a huge no-no and she didn't think she'd ever be able to fully trust him. And Wolverine…well, there was something real different about him. He watched her intently, followed her when she was sure that being around Cyclops was the last thing he wanted, and he even insisted on her spending the night there.

Not to mention the whole "You're not staying one night". Really, what was that about? Was he a telepath as well? Nah, couldn't be…because she definitely wasn't thinking about staying any longer than her single night.

Morgana knew the students would be safe and her being there more than likely wouldn't cause any problems. But being around people who even knew her name for longer than an hour or two was seriously dangerous…not for them but most assuredly for her. It was breaking all of her rules she had set up for herself but she reminded herself yet again that she was doing this for the shower and the free food.

 _I can run better on a full stomach and I won't need to stop as often. This is not going to slow me down or cause me to stop. It's just a wee little break, that's perfectly fine._

Morgana felt better after mentally reassuring herself that this wasn't crazy and turned off the water, stepping out and wrapping herself up in a towel. Her shower had probably only taken about 20 minutes, drying her hair would cost another 10, and that still left a half hour until Wolverine was due to come get her for dinner. But she was remarkably hungry and, really, how hard could it be to find the kitchen? She was almost positive they had past it at some point on the way back and forth to Professor Xavier's office.

Besides, she hadn't acted even slightly defiantly since she got to the mansion and wanted to see what would happen if she went for a little walk. The Professor said he trusted her and didn't sense any bad intentions but was he cool with her wandering around unsupervised? He better be, because she was so not cool with cages.

After sliding into her clean jeans and T-shirt and drying her wild black hair to the best of her ability, Morgana gathered up the rest of her things and slowly opened the bathroom door. Like before, she peeked outside and glanced left and right, holding her breath and waiting to see if she heard the sounds of mutant children or obnoxious boy scouts before she dared to creep into the hall. She tiptoed speedily back to her room and quickly put the rest of her things up in her backpack and made sure she had everything together – because you never knew when you'd have to leave at a moments notice – before facing her door once more.

Guess it was time to explore!

A/N

Another day, another chapter for ya'll 3


	5. Chapter 5

DISCLAIMER

I do not own the X-Men, the characters, or the universe itself. Morgana is mine and that's about it. Please don't sue me, Stan Lee.

Chapter Five

Well, maybe explore was a strong word.

Morgana wanted to go through the entire mansion from top to bottom, see what secrets she could discover, make it a little adventure to entertain herself. But something about being that defiant when there was more than likely a crap ton of super powered mutants who could kill her six ways from Sunday…nah, maybe exploring wasn't worth that much.

But she was definitely going to the kitchen on her own. She hadn't eaten in…well, a very long time, and there was no way she was going to wait in her room for an entire half hour like a good little girl. No way, no how.

Opening her door for the third time, she did the whole "peeking out and preparing herself to duck inside if she saw anyone" routine and was relieved to see no one around. It definitely wouldn't look good for her to be caught out exploring the teacher hallways if Cyclops returned. Or even Wolverine…he seemed more content with having her stay there but somehow she knew his privacy was probably important to him and his room had to be around there somewhere.

Creeping down the hallways, Morgana didn't want to think she was jumping at every creek in the floor but she probably was. Which was ridiculous…she wasn't a teenager sneaking out to see her boyfriend or anything. She just wanted a damn sandwich and not even a scary mutant was going to stop her from getting said sandwich.

Morgana found the stairwell easy enough and looked over the railing, scanning the stairs and what she could see of the first floor. She crouched behind the railing to make sure as little of her was showing as possible, praying she wouldn't see a flash of ruby visors appearing from behind a doorway or coming down the hall.

The coast looked pretty clear so she started to slowly creep her way down the stairs, making her movements slightly exaggerated as she attempted to step as lightly as possible. Every step still made a loud creaking noise but she was trying her hardest to minimize the creaking and cracking. More then likely, she just ended up looking like a complete idiot.

"What are ya doing?" Well, that did it. The sudden voice caused her to miss the last two steps and she ended up falling in a heap on the floor. And there went the last of her dignity.

"Oh mah gosh! I'm so sorry!" A distinctly southern exclaimed and the sounds of footsteps rushing down the stairs followed. Morgana groaned and sprawled out, trying to get her legs from untangled underneath her. She looked up to see a young, teenage looking girl crouching beside her with an apologetic frown on her face. She had brown hair that contrasted sharply with her pure white bangs; she was dressed in an almost goth kind of look, black gloves covering hands and almost every inch of skin covered up.

"Are you okay? I didn't mean ta scare ya that bad!" She apologized and offered Morgana a hand, helping her stand.

"It's okay, I just was giving the floor a high five with my face, it's all good." Morgana reassured her, dusting herself off and standing up. She was gonna have a bunch of new bruises but other than that, she was good. Besides, bruises never lasted long at all.

"Oh…oh, well I'm glad I didn't cause ya any harm then. Mah name is Rogue." The girl named Rogue offered, looking suddenly awkward as she glanced down at her feet.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Morgana. That's a pretty kick ass name, by the way." Morgana introduced herself and she was rewarded with a shy smile at the offhand complement. Though geez, did anyone here have a normal first name? Was that a mutant requirement? If so, she completely missed the memo.

"I ain't seen ya around here…are you a new student?" Rogue asked, trying to find something to say to fill the awkward silence between the two girls.

"Nah, I kinda was in the wrong place, wrong time earlier and got caught up a little with the whole X-Men versus Magneto thing. Helped Wolverine out of a tight spot and he insisted I drop by for dinner and to stay the night before I head out in the morning." Morgana explained, not really seeing a point in keeping her vastly uninteresting story secret. She had enough secrets about her that the more she could offer up to people and tell them, the less likely they were to ask about the stuff about her that really mattered.

Rogue's eyes lit up. "Oh so they're back? Did any of them look hurt? What happened?" She asked, excitement lightening up her face and more than a touch of worry in her eyes. Morgana laughed and held up a hand to slow the rapid rush of questions and curiosity.

"I'll make you a deal. Show me where the food in this joint is and I'll answer your questions. Deal?" Rogue nodded eagerly and indicated for her to follow her past the staircase and into a small room. It was indeed the old fashioned looking kitchen, attached to it being a massive dining room with enough chairs to fit probably the entirety of the X-Men…however many that was…she was not actually sure how many of them were on the team, now that she thought of it.

"I can make ya a sandwich. We've got ham, turkey, bologna…umm…this meat that Logan bought that I don't quite know if it's safe…" Rogue listed off as she opened up the giant black refrigerator and rooted around inside.

"Ham is fine. I'll fill ya in on the gory details of today." She offered and Rogue nodded happily as she set about to make her a sandwich. Morgana sat herself down at the little island in the kitchen and began explaining about the attack that happened, Toad, and why she was there searching for food.

As she talked, the voice of logic and reason in her head started complaining about this surprising turn of events.

 _Oooh, look at you…having girl talk in the kitchen…isn't that homey? Have you lost your mind? They know you're a mutant which is one of your biggest no-nos and now you're having a friendly chat with a girl you don't know but who now knows your name and probably that you're a mutant. This goes against everything you've been doing these past few months! Have you lost your mind? This is going to end horribly._

Morgana stomped out those thoughts, trying not to believe them or acknowledge how right they probably were. It didn't matter. She was leaving tomorrow and then none of this mattered.

"Oh, well that's good. Were ya hurt any?" Rogue asked, spreading a generous amount of mayo on her sandwich. She grabbed Morgana a soda from the fridge and plopped it down in front of her.

"Nah, it takes a lot to hurt me. I'm pretty resilient." Morgana cracked open the soda and drank gratefully. How long had it been? Too long.

"Is that your power?" Now there she went, nearly choking.

"My…how do you know I'm a mutant?" She sputtered.

Rogue shrugged. "The Professor is real particular about who he lets stay here…usually he doesn't like for…well, "normal" people to stay over night. Too dangerous and it makes the students nervous." Rogue explained, frowning suddenly as those memories were starting to reawaken in her. She shook her head against whatever the thoughts were and plopped a plate full with sandwich-y goodness in front of Morgana.

"Thanks. And…umm…yeah, I'm a mutant but my power is kinda personal. It isn't even cool so you're not missing out on anything." Morgana stuttered, not comfortable with answering any questions about being a mutant. She didn't even like anyone to know about that, not if she could help it. Rogue nodded in understanding and sat down next to her at the island, playing with her gloves.

"I can understand that. I don't like my power either and no one knows I'm a mutant back home either." Rogue said sadly and that sadness got Morgana's attention. She was all set to devour her sandwich, bolt back to her room, and hide from all these inquisitive mutants and children. But something about Rogue…well, it gave her a really, really weird feeling and for whatever reason, she started to slowly eat her sandwich and talk to the younger mutant girl.

"So are you a student here?"

"Yeah. Next month will be my six month anniversary here."

"Cool. How come you're here during the summer? Aren't most people home with their families?"

"….mah family doesn't want me home…" Rogue's voice got really soft and she glanced back down to her gloves. She looked like she stealing herself up for the sympathy and pity she was certain she was about to receive.

Instead…."Oh. Fuck them."

Rogue glanced up with a gasp. "Ah beg your pardon?"

"I said fuck them! I mean, really? Your parents don't want you home? I bet it's cause you're a mutant. That's the most idiotic reason I've ever heard. Since when does a little extra gene and a little added coolness cause you to be anything less than what you are? You're their daughter and they should be proud of you for being special." Morgana cursed and ranted, her sandwich momentarily forgotten as she went off on her rant. Parents who didn't want their children after finding out they were mutants were the most awful people she could imagine. What was even worse were those parents who became abusive and cruel to their children…like it was somehow they're fault for being born the way they were.

"I…I…usually people just say sorry." Rogue gasped, not quite sure what else she could say to reply to that.

"Yeah well, I'm not a usual type person. Parents who act like that are assholes and I hate them all. No offense." Morgana said grumpily, going back to eating her sandwich but not enjoying it as much. It was still delicious and satisfied her greatly, especially since she couldn't quite recall the last time she had a full sandwich for lunch…dinner…what time was it? She'd figure that out later. Now she was too pissed at the parents of Rogue.

"But mah power…it's…it's not like Logan or Remy's…it's dangerous." Rogue whispered, as though that justified anything her parents had ever said or done to her.

"Which one is Logan?"

"Oh, ah'm sorry. Wolverine."

"Wolverine has mother fucking claws that shoot out between his knuckles and they're stronger than steel…how is that not dangerous? How is that not probably ten times more dangerous than your power?"

"Mah power is different. It…it can kill you…."

"So can claws. Any of the X-Men have powers that could kill you. But how does that matter? People should be loved because of who they are inside, not what they can do. Someone with a super cool, not dangerous power shouldn't be accepted by their parents and someone with a little more of a dangerous power kicked out. That's just idiotic. That's on the same level of not liking someone because of their skin color and I really was hoping we were all past that as a race…the fact we may not be is depressing me terribly." Morgana grunted and finished her sandwich and taking a large gulp of her soda. Her cheery mood was definitely ruined. Rogue glanced shyly at her out of the corner of her eyes.

"Ah guess you're right…ah just never really thought about it…it's been so hard these past few months. I feel like ah'm an outcast even here cause of my power..."

"What kind of power could this possibly be?"

Rogue took a deep breath. "When ah touch ya, I can steal your life energy. You'll get all weak and if ah hold on long enough, you'll die. And when ah do that, I don't just take your energy…if yer a mutant, I can borrow ya power for a while and ah get your memories and sometimes…sometimes ah hear the people I touch in mah head…" Rogue explained in a near whisper, looking so devastatingly ashamed of herself that it just about shattered Morgana's heart. Suddenly, the thought of a second sandwich or if she could steal food for her trip tomorrow wasn't the most pressing thought in her head.

 _Uh oh. You're caring…this is bad. This isn't just bad, this is damn near dangerous. Are you thinking at all?_

"Wow…that's….really cool Rogue!" Morgana explained enthusiastically, causing Rogue's head to whip up so fast her hair flew out of place.

"What? But…aren't ya…scared of me? I can't touch anyone or I could kill them! I could kill ya if I wasn't careful!" She exclaimed, indicting her gloves and copious amounts of clothing. Yeah, an accidental touch or a surprise hug would be super bad for her, no doubt about that. But still not bad enough to cause your parents to decide they didn't want anything to do with you anymore…nothing was that bad.

"Yeah and guess what? That's awesome. Your life is not easy and it's never gonna be easy…I'd bullshit you and say "everyone has their struggles" but you and I both know that's a load of shit. Your life is going to be harder because you've got a power that's pretty hard to control and pretty dangerous. But you know what it means? No one can hurt you. You've got a built in defense system. And you're what, like 15? You've got years ahead of you to try and figure out a way to control it. Maybe you can eventually master it and make it so you can turn it on or off again…who knows? But don't you dare think you're not good enough for your parents or anyone else. You're special and you deserve to be treated like you're special, nothing more and nothing less." Morgana said all this very carefully and enthusiastically, making sure Rogue knew under no circumstances that she was afraid or intimidated by her. Because, really, how was she scarier than anyone else there? Slowing having your life force drained sounded scary but…getting stabbed with claws sounded pretty damn bad too.

Rogue looked shocked. She looked like no one had honestly told her any of that and her eyes look suspiciously wet. Morgana prayed she wasn't going to start crying because she had absolutely no idea how to deal with emotions, her own or definitely anyone else's.

"Ya…ya mean that?" She asked quietly.

"Duh. You're special and deserve to be treated like you're special. Not "different" or weird or dangerous…special. Didn't the Professor tell you that or any of your teachers?"

"Ah haven't been here that long and when I came…I was…well, I was kinda a mess. Really angry and ah acted out. Ah'm kind of an outsider now…I scare people or else they think I'm weird. The Professor said being different isn't a bad thing but no one's ever said ah was special and that was I actually good…" She trailed off and looked down at her hands, her own weapons that caused her daily stress and fear. She must really think she's some kind of monster…which was stupid and sad.

So Morgana did the one thing she was the least comfortable with…she reached out and hugged Rogue.

"Fuck everyone else, kay kid? Just be you and know that's okay cause being different is good." Morgana informed her as the girl stiffened up in horror in her arms; obviously she wasn't used to people touching her. After a minute Rogue loosened up and tentatively hugged her back, keeping her face – which was practically the only bit of skin not covered – carefully angled away.

"Thank yah, Morgana." Rogue whispered and Morgana pulled back, definitely noticing the teary eyed look the teen was shooting her. Oh boy, those big brown eyes…ugh…she was such a sucker for sappy, sad eyes.

"So I see ya found the kitchen, kit." Well, there was Wolverine. Right on time.

 **A/N**

I am SO SORRY everyone! I know it's been…almost two years since I've uploaded. I had a hell of a bad year last year (didn't EVERYONE in the world?). I have so much written (this was my NaNoWriMo project two years ago so I have 50,000 words written but some of the chapters are a little…wordy because I was trying to fill my quota) so I'm editing and I'll be posting a new chapter every week if not every few days. Once I'm down uploading, I'll go back to writing it…I hope I can find Morg's voice again :P Thank you so so much for all the reviews and follows and all that. It's meant the world and has inspired me to get back into this story. Please stick with me! I promise it's gonna be a fun ride…and a long one…I have no sense of moderation and I ramble sooooo I could see this easily being over 100,000 words haha. I LOVE YOU ALL 3 Read and review if you like :)


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men or the universe...just my OC, Morgana Watson. Please don't sue me, Stan Lee!

Chapter Six

Morgana did her very best not to freak out at the sudden, male voicing coming from behind her. She really did put forth her very best effort and none could deny that. But yet she still found herself flinching so hard she managed to fall sideways off her chair with a yelp.

"Oh mah gosh, Logan! Ya can't sneak up on people like that!" Rogue scolded as she leapt from her chair and rushed to help Morgana up off the floor. As she was raising herself up with all the dignity she lacked, she glanced around the room and finally spotted the odd X-Men standing leaning against the doorway to the kitchen. How long had he been there? Oh Jesus, she fervently hoped he hadn't caught her mushy display of emotion and affection. That was definitely not something her reputation could take.

"I'm good, I'm good…just high fiving the floor again…with my face…I do this a lot, no one worry." Morgana grunted and allowed the younger girl to help her up as she resumed her spot at the island once more. She now had a moment to examine Wolverine – or should she say, Logan? – and figure out how long she thought he had been watching them.

Well, he definitely had time to change. Instead of the weird looking black uniform everyone wore, he was dressed casually in blue jeans and a white wife beater with a red plaid shirt halfway buttoned. Morgana would rather Rogue touch her and drain her of all her life energy, memories, and kill her as slowly as humanely possible before she admitted it but Wolverine wasn't too bad looking. In fact, he was kinda sexy dressed like that, his wild hair looking all wind-tossed and the casual way his eyes swept through the room before settling definitely on her.

 _Yeah, those thoughts? Those thoughts you're having right now? Fuck them. Fuck them long and hard because you're not finding anyone cute._

"So, LOGAN," Morgan delighted in emphasizing his name. "How long have you been spying on us gals?"

"Long enough. You weren't in your room." He grunted, frowning at her apparent lack of respect and disobedience to his absolute authority. Yeah, right.

"I wasn't aware I was confined to quarters, captain. I'm a big girl and I can find the kitchen on my own."

"….big girl, really? What are ya, 15 and 4'9?"

"What even the fuck? I am so much older than that and at least two inches taller!"

"Ummm…ah helped her find the kitchen and fixed her a sandwich while we talked, Logan." Rogue interrupted them, back to picking at her gloves shyly. She looked positively ready to run to her room and hide away from everyone but Morgana definitely wasn't going to be left by herself with Wolverine. No way, no how.

"And we had a lovely talk. She makes a better hostess than the boy scout, that's for damn sure." Morgana said with a grimace. Wolverine laughed and Rogue looked up in surprised, mouth hanging open slightly.

"Do ya mean Scott?"

"Is that Mr. authoritarian tight-ass? That's his name in my mind."

"….yeah…that sounds like Scott…." Rogue had to laugh now.

"Seriously, I feel sorry you have to go to school with him. I imagine he must be a teacher. He looks too controlling not to be some kind of teacher here."

"Yeah, he teaches math."

"Oh Jesus. The worst teacher for the worst subject…I'd rather shoot myself."

Rogue started laughing as she nodded her agreement. Morgana had to smile herself; it was nice seeing Rogue smile. She looked so shy and sad most of the time but seeing a smile on her face made her look so sweet and happy. She deserved to be happy.

"Rogue, ain't you got an appointment with Chuck soon?" Wolverine said suddenly, glancing over at the clock on the wall. Rogue gasped and whirled around, her eyes widening when she realized how late it was getting.

"Oh mah gosh, I completely forgot! I gotta go." She got up suddenly and pushed her chair in, grabbing her and Morgana's plate as she rushed to the sink and put them in to soak. She was about to rush out of the room when suddenly she stopped and shyly approached Morgana.

"Miss Morgana? Ah probably won't see ya tonight but…I usually help fix breakfast and stuff…will ya be here for breakfast tomorrow morning at least?" She asked shyly, looking like it was slowly killing her to be brave enough to even ask that question. Based on Wolverine's fleeting look of surprise, asking a question like that was definitely outside of her normal behavior.

 _Say no. You said you were leaving first thing in the morning, probably before sunrise. You've gotta head north, remember that plan? You need to leave as soon as possible and there is no way you're…._

"She'll be here, kid. Don't worry." Wolverine confirmed and Rogue's face lit up a little but she still kept her eyes trained on Morgana, waiting for the official confirmation.

 _SAY NO._

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day…sure, Rogue. I'll be here bright and early. Just have someone tell me where and when to be down here." She forced a smile, in reality mostly wincing at the thought of staying there longer tomorrow. But the overjoyed smile on Rogue's face made her smile a little more real and Wolverine especially looked shocked when Rogue suddenly reached out and carefully hugged her, mostly grabbing her shoulder while keeping her head angled far away.

"Thank yah so much! I'll see yah bright and early, okay? Breakfast is at 8 but if yah want, I can come get yah at 7:45 and walk yah down here. You're staying in the teacher's quarters as well?" Rogue questioned and Morgana nodded weakly, the sheer happiness her staying for breaking was causing the girl was definitely making her feel a little dizzy.

"Yep, second door on the left."

"Oh, yah right next to Wolverine. I'll find yah first thing in the morning then. Thank yah!" Rogue exclaimed again and ran out of the room, missing the semi surprised look on Morgana's face. Oh? She was not only in the teacher's quarters but right next to Wolverine? Curious and curiouser…

"Thought you weren't staying tomorrow morning." Wolverine grunted, stepping into the room now that Rogue was gone. Morgana tried not to be instantly awkward and uncomfortable being alone with him.

"Yeah, well…shit happens. Rogue's a good kid and she wanted me to stay sooo…I'll stay for breakfast. No big deal." She shrugged, trying to brush it off like it was nothing even though she – and probably he, she had a weird feeling he could tell most of what she was feeling – knew it was a pretty huge deal. Even if it was staying a few hours, she was staying a few hours for someone else and that definitely wasn't in her job description.

"Stay for breakfast…you and I both know it ain't gonna just be for breakfast." Wolverine snorted and leaned on the island, eyes watching her as she struggled to remain seated and not bolt from the room. He just had this creepy sense, like he knew her or knew something about her she definitely didn't want him or anyone else to know.

"Why do you say that? I'm definitely not staying. I've gotta head north, not that it's any of your business."

"I say it cause I've been in your shoes. I've been on the run. And I know what it's like when you come to this place. All your life you've felt like an outsider, a freak…and suddenly you're in a mansion full of people just like you. And not only that but they want you to stay. They're offering you a home, a real one, someplace you can call your own even it's only for a few months or a few years…even if it's not forever, it's still yours for as long as you want it and that's probably the first time in your life you've ever had something like that."

"No one offered me a home. They offered me a place for the night. This is a school and I don't belong here."

"How old are you? Ya probably not gonna answer that but it doesn't matter. Yer young. I can smell it. And I already talked to the Professor…classes start next week and he said if ya want, ya can stay and attend school for as long as ya like."

Well, damn. That was a fascinating and pretty tempting offer. Not that Morgana liked any form of schooling and she especially detested the idea of being taught class by Cyclops who seemed like the biggest dick on campus. But the prospect of staying someplace for more than a day or two, having a bed, her own room, warm food every night…no, that was far more than tempting.

 _Too bad you can't ever even consider it. And you know that._

"I'm too old to be playing games with a bunch of kids all the time. Besides, I'm not running. I have my reasons for heading north and for avoiding the people I'm avoiding." Morgana got up suddenly and decided despite how early it was, going to bed and getting a good night's sleep was probably for the best. Plus it meant she could escape.

"We'll see." Wolverine shrugged and walked past her out of the room without another word. She watched him go and then shook her head, chastising herself for letting him get into her head. No matter what, he didn't know her and he never would because tomorrow morning, directly after breakfast, she was leaving the mansion and striking out north. She'd be a few states over by the end of the day, probably sleeping in a barn or field somewhere. Totally just as good as the mansion.

As she walked slowly back to her room – not creeping as much now because she was too tired and she probably wouldn't run into anyone at this hour anyway – she thought of what Wolverine offered.

Her, Morgana Watson, one of the most rebellious and sometimes foulest mouthed girls in all of New York…a student in a school. Yeah, no, that would end so badly. She was a bad influence, she didn't like forming attachments, and she'd probably end up corrupting all of Xavier's kids. Well, Rogue seemed to like her and she seemed to make a positive impact on her…but that was one girl and she was…special. Not all the kids would be like her and Morgana definitely couldn't be nice and politically correct for that amount of time. She'd absolutely die.

Besides, she couldn't risk any growing affection for anyone. Already she was too fond of that Rogue girl…maybe because she saw way too much of herself there. And even though she doubted she'd get attached to most of the X-Men, it was still too great of a risk.

No, she decided as she reached her doorway next to Wolverine's, no she would leave. Tomorrow, directly after breakfast…she would leave and she wouldn't look back because she promised herself a long time ago that she wouldn't get attached and she'd keep walking…until it was time to stop. And it very obviously wasn't time to stop, not yet.

So even if he called it running, who cared? Tomorrow, she would run and that's all there was to it.

Morgana opened and closed her temporary bedroom door and tried to sleep.

A/N

See! A new chapter and I didn't die or disappear. Again, this was my NaNoWriMo project from two years ago so if it seems a little wordy at times, I apologize but I was word-vomitting some days to get my word count. Once we're through the next few chapters, I'll be writing fresh and I'll make sure it's a bit more snappy. Hope everyone is enjoying it thus far! Thank you for all the kind reviews, my lovelies 3


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men…just Morgana. Pls don't send Stan Lee's secret assassins after me.

Chapter Seven

Morgana locked her door, made sure her gear was ready for the morning, and then she went to bed. Her intention was to go to bed early, get a crap ton of rest, and be up and at it first thing. Breakfast would fly by and then she would be ready to walk out the door and continue her travels.

That was her intention but surprisingly…it didn't happen quite as she would have liked.

Instead, she found herself trapped in one of her rare, horrific nightmares and she tossed and turned, moaning out loud and begging for the mercy she never received. As the dream drew to a horrifying conclusion – always the same ending, always the same pain - she shot up in bed and panted, looking right and left, practically leaping from under the covers.

It was always the same after every dream. She instantly needed to feel free and any kind of confinement absolutely killed her. And this was one of her worst dreams she'd ever have and where was she? Inside an unfamiliar room, in an unfamiliar house with tons of mutants who could kill her or rip her most precious, hidden thoughts from the very recesses of her mind at any given moment.

This was not freedom. Morgana suddenly couldn't breath and before she knew what she was doing, she bolted for her door and swung it open. She definitely wasn't being quiet now and if she had been in her right mind, she would have freaked out at the thought that someone might have heard her. But all she could think of now was running and getting away, getting free, outrunning the demons that were chasing her.

Morgana leapt down the stairs two at a time and stumbled at the bottom, straightening up and sprinting for the front door. She undid the locks and slammed it open, bolting into the crisp, clear night without looking back. The property the mansion rested on was huge and she knew in the back of it was a very, very large forest and that was exactly where she headed.

She wasn't looking to run into the street and escape the mansion. No, she didn't grab any of her gear and she wasn't thinking logically enough to think to run far. Instead, she headed for nature, fresh air, and a freedom that only it could give her. It was the same with every one of her nightmares: Waking up with the overwhelming urge to run, to be free, and to hide herself in a nature that always managed to calm her down even when she felt her worst.

Morgana run for probably over a mile through the woods until she physically couldn't run anymore. Her legs collapsed underneath her and she slammed onto her hands and knees as she heaved deep, gasping breaths. Every breath hurt and the pain and exhaustion helped keep her in the moment. She couldn't let herself fade back into her memories or nightmares…if she did, she'd drown and she couldn't let that happen again.

After she managed to catch her breath, she lifted her head and glanced around, trying to figure out exactly where she had ended up in her wild run from the mansion. Well, it was definitely nighttime…probably after midnight judging by the height of the moon. And she was nowhere near the mansion or any other signs of civilization. She figured she must have run well over a mile and now she found herself in a moonlit meadow, trees crowding in on every side, and a small pond in the center.

Really, it was quite beautiful and extremely peaceful in comparison to the other places she could have run or even the mansion itself. Not that the mansion wasn't totally peaceful…she did like her temporary room and the old fashioned feel of the school in general. But there was something so relaxing about nature, something about it that always managed to make her feel calm even in her most anxious, terrified moments.

 _If I can figure out how the hell I got here, I'm so going to have to come back here more often. It's beautiful._

She wasn't even concentrating on her thoughts enough to chastise herself for thinking in any way like she was going to be here for more than a night. Morgana should be leaving the mansion in just a handful of hours but at this moment, she couldn't bother thinking about that.

Instead, Morgana stood up and walked to the water's edge and sat down. She didn't feel like going back inside…the thought of going anywhere that would make her feel confined was definitely not what she needed right now. Besides, she's slept outside plenty of times in the past so spending another night outside under the stars truly didn't bother her.

"Bad night, kitling?" The sudden masculine voice right behind her caused a scream to rip from her throat and she leapt up, trying to spin around at the same time as though she could somehow defend herself. Instead, her foot got caught in a root and she started to fall backwards towards the pond. She would have fallen in – which totally would have made her night a bad one – when a large, thick set of arms wrapped around her stomach and pulled her back.

Morgana felt herself pressed against a thick, muscular chest and she whipped her head back, trying to head butt whoever had grabbed her as she sent a kick flying backwards, trying to angle up between his legs.

"Fuck, kit! Settle down!" A voice growled in her ear and pulled her tighter against him to prevent her from moving. All of a suddenly, she realized exactly who used the weird ass word "kit" and who growled like that. Also the super muscular arms kind of tipped her off as well. Wasn't like Boyscout was built like that.

"Wolverine?" Morgana gasped fearfully, stilling slightly in his arms as her heart raced. Please be Wolverine…please be Wolverine…please be Wolverine….

"It's me, you're safe, calm down." He said in a reassuring growl, lowering his head to nuzzle against her neck. Usually, Morgana would have freaked out at the sudden contact and ended up slamming her head back again but something about the gesture coming from him calmed down her. She angled her head to the side to give him more room and she relaxed her shoulders, dropping her arms.

"You scared me." She said softly, closing her eyes as she tried to control her heartbreak. It felt like there was a jackhammer in her chest and it was making her feel lighthearted, especially mixed with the conflicting feelings of him nuzzling against her neck.

"I didn't expect ya to freak out like that. Just figured ya wouldn't want to fall into the pond." Wolverine grunted and slowly let her go, pulling his head back to allow her to turn around. He wasn't dressed in his jeans from earlier…instead, he had on blue pajama pants and was definitely lacking a shirt.

If Morgana thought he was somewhat attractive earlier, she definitely thought he was sexy now. And she wasn't even into ripped guys but his muscles looked so lean, realistic…not the bodybuilder type but definitely built. And his arms…good god, they were nice.

 _Bad thoughts, Morgana! Get them out of your head. Focus._

"Why are you even out here? Shouldn't you be asleep?" Morgana asked, crossing her arms protectively over her chest.

"Shouldn't you?" Wolverine shot back.

"Fair enough. I had a…not so great dream…and needed a little air." Morgana admitted and moved past him, heading for one of the trees to sit down. It suddenly struck her how very tired she was. The combination of the dream and the miles long run was really starting to run her down. She slid down the tree and stared up at Wolverine, who walked over to stand above her but a respectful distance away.

"A bad dream made you run three miles?" He quirked an eyebrow at her and she blushed, glancing down at the ground. Well, it definitely wasn't the one mile she thought it had been.

"I have pretty bad nightmares…I don't like feeling trapped when I wake up and the mansion is nice and all but it's unfamiliar and I prefer trees when I'm upset…" Morgana mumbled, not liking revealing that much personal detail about herself. But it was pretty late at night…she would blame any of her personal ramblings and lack of common sense on the late hour from this point on, she decided.

"I understand. I'm the same when I have dreams." Wolverine replied, his voice a bit softer than before. Morgana nodded and accepted his words quietly, feeling relieved that he didn't think she was a total weirdo for freaking out so badly and running all this way. But wait a second…she suddenly realized he hadn't answered her first question to him.

"Wait a second…you never answered my question. Why are you out here? I'm out here because of my nightmare but you…" Morgana squinted up at him, noticing how Wolverine glanced away suddenly. That pond was suddenly very interesting to him, was it? More interesting than answering her question…hmmm….

"You followed me, didn't you?" Morgana guessed, noticing how he hadn't even taken time to throw on a jacket despite how chilly it was out there at night in late August. He wasn't even wearing real pants…and he looked a little sweaty, like he had run the entire way there…and he would have had to, wouldn't he? How else would he have appeared moments after she got there herself? He must have followed her the entire way there.

"I heard ya wake up. Could smell your fear. And you weren't exactly quiet…ya left your door and the front door wide open." Wolverine informed her, his eyes back to searching her face and sweeping up and down her body, as though he could see through her. Yet again, she was struck by how animal he was…he could literally smell her fear? And the neck nuzzling thing…that was weird but somehow endearing. She had a feeling something about his mutation meant he was a little more animal than human at times.

"Oh. I'm sorry I woke you." Morgana said sheepishly, feeling bad that her stupid dreams could have woken him up and caused him to chase after her. He really didn't have to…she always managed to find her way back after being overtaken by that horrible fear.

"It's okay, kit. I wanted to make sure you were okay." Wolverine informed her calmly, not seeming disturbed by the turn of events at all. His concern though…that was really starting to confuse her. Why did he care? She was nothing.

"Thanks. I'm fine, though. I didn't mean to wake you. You can go back to bed…I'll be in before breakfast, I'm sure." Morgana said, her voice slowly emptying of emotions. This was too dangerous…her being out there alone with him. She wasn't worried about him hurting her and she wasn't scared of him at all…she was scared that she was getting too comfortable with him.

Especially him saying he wanted to make sure she was okay. That was too close to caring. That combined with Rogue hugging her…no way could she handle that level of affection. It dangerous and she needed to escape and she knew she couldn't outrun him so she had to get him to leave. Please, please let him leave.

"I'm not leaving." Wolverine informed her and went quiet again, half watching her and half watching the surroundings. It was like he was scanning the area in case anyone else approached or someone attacked….must be the whole animal part of him again.

"I'm fine. You can leave. Please leave." Morgana monotoned, her muscles tensing to run again. She tried desperately to relax but the panic was starting to rise up inside her again. Why wasn't he leaving? She just wanted to be left alone.

"Not gonna leave, kit. You shouldn't be alone." Wolverine grunted and glanced at her and away again. Maybe it was the concern when he said she shouldn't be alone…maybe it was the affectionate use of the word kit…maybe it was that caring looking in his eyes. Who knows what finally set her over the edge?

All she knew, was one moment she was sitting leaning against the tree and the next Morgana was bolting through the woods once more.

A/N

Okay….okay, I get it. I reappear, say I'm gonna stick around, and then disappear for a few months. I AM TRASH, I KNOW. But I've tested for my 1st degree black belt which ate up a lot of my time and then I moved from Florida back home to Maine. BUT NOW GUYS, I REALLY AM BACK. Because I will be updating EVERY WEDNESDAY from here on out. "Wolverine Wednesdays", we'll call it. So expect another chapter tomorrow and next week and the week after until this story – which, by the way, is going to be extremely long because I love long fics myself – is finally finished. Also I have a few other stories I might be posting and updating weekly….not X-Men but one of them is Marvel and will tie into this one eventually.

ALSO. I have a FB page where I'll be posting if a chapter is ever expected to be delayed, interacting with anyone who wants to interact with little ole' me, and just posting stuff relating to writing/X-Men/other fandoms. Please give it a like so ya'll can better keep up with me. Just search for Amanda Howlett on FB under pages. The picture is me with a camera because my day job is freelance photography work haha. facebook AmandaMHowlett (without the spaces!)

LAST BUT NOT LEAST. Thank you so, so, so much to everyone who has reviewed, followed, favorited this story. I'm serious. You guys really mean the world to me. I really do think I'm a subpar writer and sometimes that's what makes me hesitate before posting chapters. But seeing how much you guys like my story…well, I've decided I can't keep disappearing because there's a lot of darkness in the world and if my little story can make any of smile or brighten your day, I just wanna do my part in bringing a little sunshine to grey days. Anywho! This note is about as long as the damn chapter but I will see you guys tomorrow for the next! Love you all! 3


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men, just Morgana!

Chapter Eight

Morgana ran on pure instinct. She was getting too close to people, she felt too confined, she had to get away. Wolverine's eyes, the way he watched her, the concern…she couldn't handle it anymore. They would try and convince her to stay the next day and the day after and the day after and before she knew it, she would be living in the mansion and would be attached to everyone there. Maybe she'd even tolerate Cyclops, who knew?

But none of that could happen.

 _Run, run you stupid girl. This is your fault. You never should have come to the mansion. And even if you did stay, you should have stayed in your room and not have left. None of this would have happened. Just run, get away, escape…you can find more gear later, you didn't need that shit…just keep running._

But maybe in the back of her mind she knew it was useless. She had no idea where she was going and she had a horrible feeling Wolverine wouldn't let her leave like that. But what would he do to her, how would he prevent her from running away?

Now it was a new level of fear pumping her legs forward. Morgana could barely think through the fear and anxiety that was crushing her mind and heart. She couldn't even breath.

But the run didn't last as long as the one previously. She could have kept running forever but instead, she only managed maybe half of mile of her desperate bid for freedom and escape in the woods before it came to an end. A definite, crashing end.

One moment, Morgana was running desperately, leaping over rocks, ducking between tress…and the next, she was crashing to the ground. Wolverine had caught up to her and with a roar, leapt at her, throwing his arms around her waist and yanking her back. She fell against him and he allowed himself to crash to the ground underneath her to cushion her fall.

"Let me go!" Morgana shrieked and started flailing around, striking out at Wolverine with her hands and feet. The mostly calm, sarcastic young woman went from normal to a snarling hellcat in under a minute. Now she was just a ball of desperation, doing anything possible to get away.

"Calm down!" Wolverine snarled but that snarl was cut off when her fist connected soundly with his jaw. Unsurprisingly, it didn't do a whole lot…other than to send him snarling and grabbing at her wrist. Before she knew it, Morgana found herself on her back with her arms pinned over her head and Wolverine straddling her waist to keep her from kicking her legs.

Try as she might – and she was definitely trying, the fight had not left her yet – it was very clear she was pinned. There was no escaping from this position.

"I said _calm down_." Wolverine said dangerously and he leaned his face over hers, growling and baring his teeth at her. Morgana wanted to fight, kick, scream, claw…do whatever she could to escape this position. But she knew she was helpless and his growling and position over her struck true fear into her heart and she stilled underneath him, the fight dying out of her.

"What now, wolf boy? I'm all yours. You can't fucking kill me but go ahead, try." Morgana spit out, her body trembling with fear but her eyes like fires that would not be distinguished by what she imagined was eventual pain and death.

"Oh I could kill ya, darlin'. But that isn't what I'm tryin' to do. I just want ya to stop fucking running away." Wolverine's growl was a little softer but he still didn't let her go and he still looked pretty pissed that she had tried running. He definitely wasn't going to get off her anytime soon it seemed. He was probably too afraid she would try and take off again…which, let's be real here, she was definitely planning on doing if he tried letting her go.

"Why does it matter? I just want to run. Why does it fucking matter to you?" Morgana snapped, almost mad enough to try moving again but the pressure of him leaning on her arms and his face so close to hers kept her still and obedient…to a degree.

"Because more than anyone in that damn school and more than anyone ya ever met, I know what it's like to run. I know what it's like to wake up screaming from nightmares, feeling the need to get out and into the open so you can start to feel less trapped. I know what it's like to have no one. I know what it's like to run yer entire life and think running is all you've got and all you'll ever have. I know, kitling. And I'm trying ta tell ya…you don't have to. You can stop now. I'll keep ya safe from whatever you're running from and you can rest a little." Wolverine started his speech off with his typical angry growl, as though desperately frustrated that she didn't understand anything he had been trying to subtly tell her up until that point.

But towards the end, his growl softened. He looked so genuinely concerned for her. That was what caused the fight to drain out of her; he could have yelled, screamed, attacked her, tried to kill her…he could have done anything and she would have kept fighting. But the look of concern and the promise he would keep her safe when he didn't even have to, didn't even know her…she sank into the ground and shut her eyes against the tears that were suddenly starting to build.

"You don't understand. Ya can't protect me from what I'm running from."

"Darlin', I can kill anything –"

"Ya can't kill me!"

"Do ya really wanna bet that?" Wolverine looked so amused at her insistence. He pissed her off again and suddenly she was struggling and spewing words that she normally would have rather die than say.

"Yeah, I wanna bet! That's my fucking power, you idiot wolf! I cannot die. I'm gonna live forever and everyone I love is gonna die around me and I'll have to watch. It's why I gotta keep running, I can't let myself become attached to anyone because then I'll just have to watch them slowly age and slip away while I spend the rest of this world's existence by myself!" Morgana screamed and tried her hardest to get free, buck him off her, claw at his face.

It wasn't Wolverine she was mad at. She was mad at herself…mad at God, for making her immortal and incapable of being harmed. It was the most horrible mutant power she could imagine…living forever was not what it was cracked up to be. She went through every day of her life knowing that whoever she fell in love with would slowly die while she stayed the same age forever. Every friend, every family member…everyone she knew or would ever know would age and die and she would remain her age for the rest of her life. It was pure hell.

That wasn't her whole reason for running. There were other reasons, darker reasons, connected to her past that caused her to look over her shoulder constantly, move from city to city within a few weeks, the fear of being followed always clawing at the back of her mind. But thankfully, even in her upset state which would _still_ blame on the late night and lack of coffee, she hadn't mentioned anything too incriminating about her other reasons for not staying still.

For whatever reason, Wolverine suddenly released her arms and slid sideways off her, crouching down and letting her move freely. Previously, Morgana would have leapt up and ran, ran, ran, until she couldn't run anymore…until she had outrun her fear, anxiety, and the mutant who seemed to pry too much out of her, every time.

But the suddenness of being free shocked her slightly and instead, Morgana lifted herself up and she knelt on the grass in front of him, trying to keep her breathing under control. She knew she was probably crying but kept her eyes locked tight shut, trying to stem any tears that would come.

 _Be strong. Control. You've got this, none of this matters, just relax._

"So you're running from everyone because ya scared you're going to lose everyone and be alone." Wolverine asked, standing up over her and staring down as she sat there numbly. She stared at the ground and nodded, biting her lip and closing her eyes again. The very word "alone" caused tears to spring unbidden to her eyes once more.

"I understand what ya feeling, kitling. But this means you really can't leave." Wolverine informed her calmly…so calmly, it sparked her rage once more. Before she could comprehend what she was doing and how bad of an idea it was, she was on her feet and in his face.

"Oh yeah? I can't leave, huh? Bull shit! I'm leaving! I already really like Rogue and she's gonna die in 60 or 70 years and then I'll have to bury her and be on my own again. I'm always going to be on my own, incapable of being injured or dying…you don't have a clue what that's like, meathead!" Morgana screamed, completely losing her mind and forgetting that this was Wolverine of the X-Men and he could slice her up without even batting an eye. Just because he seemed kinda fond of her didn't mean he wouldn't absolutely destroy her.

Speaking of those claws she evidentially forgot…she was sharply – haha, pun – reminded of them when they suddenly slid out of his knuckles with a soft hissing sound. Instantly, Morgana quieted down and closed her mouth, survival instincts coming back up instantly. Fear set in and she started slowly backing up until her back hit a tree, Wolverine approaching her slowly.

She was suddenly terrified. His claws were long, lethal, and he had perfect control of them. They were a part of him, after all. And they looked so dangerously sharp…she couldn't die but she could still feel pain and tried everything she could to avoid it.

But instead of carving her up like a Christmas turkey or slamming them into the tree next to her to terrify her more, Wolverine instead did the one thing she really wasn't expecting. He held out his forearm and dragged his claws against his arm.

Morgana gasped as his flesh was cut as easily as butter, blood flowing down his arm and dripping wetly onto the forest floor. His eyes looked dark, hooded…there was something definitely animalistic and angry, haunted about him now. But just as easily as he surprised her, she managed to somehow surprise him right back.

"What the hell are you doing?" She shouted and leaned forward, forcibly pushing his hands away and grabbing at his arm. God, he must have severed veins…he could bleed out at any moment, what was she supposed to do? What would House MD do? Apply pressure and…

"Look." Wolverine retracted his claws and his hand grabbed hers and pulled them away. She started to protest when suddenly she realized the cuts on his arm were knitting themselves close before her very eyes, the flesh bonding together and the blood flow stopping instantly.

"What the hell…" Morgana whispered and Wolverine let her hands go. She hesitantly reached out and rubbed her fingertips over his arm, feeling the skin and hair. It was completely healed, not even a mark indicating where he had cut himself. It was like he'd never been injured.

"I heal. That's my power…I can't get injured and as far as I can tell, I can't age and won't die." Wolverine said slowly, watching at her hands rubbed over his arm over and over again, as though trying to reassure herself that he was whole and uninjured. His words slapped her hard in the face and she glanced up in open-mouthed shock, her hands stilling on his arm.

"You mean…you're like me?" She whispered in a tiny voice, her eyes wide and full of something really similar to hope. A desperate, pathetic kind of hope, as though she was finally seeing another human being for the first time after living her entire life trapped on an island alone. Wolverine nodded and leaned a little closer to her, impressing his words onto her.

"You're not alone, kitling. I'm not gonna die. You can stay…stay here with me, with the X-Men. You don't have to be alone." Wolverine whispered and the utter truth of his words hit Morgana, sinking in so deeply she could feel them scarring themselves on her heart.

So she did the only thing she could think to do at that moment.

She burst into tears.

A/N

And there's the reveal! Well, of her power anyway. Not her backstory or WHY she's truly running…muwahahaha. Why did I pick immortality as her power? Because I didn't want her to become some ultra-powerful Mary-Sue monster, you know? She's got a power that makes her completely useless in a combat situation…sure she can't die but she doesn't have Wolvie's claws or any combat training. So if she DOES ever become an X-Man, she's going to have to work really hard to overcompensate for her lack of inborn talent. Don't worry, it's going to be a fun ride! Also, my favorite, absolute FAVORITE, type of Wolverine fanfiction/comics always portray him as a little more animal than man so his desire to protect her and interest in her is very based on animal instincts at times but that'll be explained and fleshed out as well. One more chapter of fluff and then it's back to snark, humor, and introducing more of the main cast…it's gonna be one hell of a ride! ;) See you next Wednesday guys!


	9. Chapter 9

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the X-Men, just lil ole' Morgana.

Chapter Nine

Morgana hated crying desperately. It was weak, pathetic, and it never solved anything, ever. She hated crying when she was by herself but crying in front of people was the worst thing she could possible imagine happening. And especially in front of someone like Wolverine or any of the other X-Men. And yet there she was, crying her eyes out from whatever emotions were currently running her heart ragged.

Was she happy? Sad? She couldn't tell. It felt like relief…knowing there was someone cursed with the same fate as her. Someone who might not die in 50 or 60 years like mostly everyone else would…maybe Wolverine could be a friend or something, someone she could know and care about who wouldn't leave her alone.

In her humiliation at letting her emotions show, Morgana threw up her hands and covered her face. She wanted to sink into the earth and hide or run away again but she found herself rooted. She really didn't feel like fighting past Wolverine again for the second or third time.

Before she could figure out how to immediately die to better hide her humiliation of crying, Wolverine took care of the situation yet again. He reached out and, with some slight hesitance, put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her close. Morgana was so surprised, she let herself be drawn into his chest and buried her face in his shoulder.

She was still entirely embarrassed and shy about crying in front of him but she was already so sad and miserable and relieved about everything that she didn't care at that point. She just kept her face pressed against his skin as Wolverine wrapped one arm protectively around her waist and the other hand reached up to stroke her hair.

"It's okay, kid. You're not alone anymore. I'm right here." Wolverine whispered, his fingers sliding through her hair soothingly. His other hand rubbed her waist in a manner that could have be interpreted as sensual on any other occasion but right now it was just soothing.

"Why do you care so much, Wolverine? You don't even know me." Morgana whispered, trying to control her tears and stop crying so much. She didn't even want to think about the fact that her tears were running down Wolverine's bare chest. Ugh, was her snot touching him? Please tell her that her snot wasn't touching him.

"Because ya saved me. Tiny, frail little girl standing up to Toad to rescue someone she didn't even know. That took guts…and then I could smell ya. I knew there was something about ya that was different from the other mutants. There was something about ya that smelt like me and now I know why…we're gonna outlive them all but that doesn't mean we can just stop caring." Wolverine murmured into her hair, rubbing his nose against the top of her head and then nuzzling against her neck. It was animalistic and yet so comforting…she could get used to his weird, animal behavior. Even if he did admit to smelling her when they first met, something she was going to be horrified about at a later day when the world wasn't crashing down around her.

"If I…if I stay here…you'll be here too?" Morgana asked in a tiny voice, trying not to sound clingy or weird. They didn't even know each other that well – they'd only just met for God's sake – but the thought of being friends with someone who will live forever like her…that was a beautiful dream. She didn't want to stick around if he wasn't going to stick around with her.

Wolverine pulled back from her and lifted up her chin so he could see her eyes and he smiled.

"I'm sticking around. And I promise ya, if I go anywhere…I'll always come back. Okay, kitling?" Wolverine asked and she nodded her head, eyes full of hope. This was real…wasn't it? She could stay someplace and everything would be okay. That was too much to even hope for…she had never dreamed something like that could ever happen to her. She guessed she didn't ever believe she'd find someone with the same kind of obscure, useless power.

"Okay. I'll stay then. For a little while, at least." Morgana whispered and was about to say something else when she was interrupted rudely by a huge yawn. Suddenly, she felt utterly drained and doubted she could move if she tried. Too bad she was….three miles away from the mansion? Approximately. Which was going to absolutely suck to walk all the way back when it was most certainly after 2…

"Time for bed." Wolverine announced suddenly.

"Yeah…it's gonna be a long walk home…is it north or…" Morgana was trying to get her bearings, looking left and right through the thick trees to figure out which way she thought she was supposed to go. But before she could get her full question out, Wolverine suddenly reached forward and swept her up in his arms, settling her into a bridal style carry.

"Ummm…I can walk, ya know." Morgana informed her as he started walking through the woods in a random direction, after sniffing the air for a few seconds. Apparently he could smell the way home…yeah, it was definitely going to take some time to get used to his weird quirks.

"You would end up wandering around all night and besides, this is faster and ya need to rest. You promised Rogue breakfast." Wolverine reminded her and chuckled at her loud groan.

"But that's in like 4 hours…"

"Close your eyes, kit. Rest." Wolverine commanded and she opened her mouth to argue back – or maybe ask what kit means – but a yawn came out instead. Her mutant limousine chuckled so she shut her mouth and grumbled as she closed her eyes, wanting to stay awake just to spite him. But she didn't have the energy and almost the second she shut her eyes, she passed out in his arms.

The next thing she was aware of was the sound of a door creaking open. But she was so tired, she didn't want to deal with it. Instead she turned over and buried her face into something warm…something that smelled like leather and smoke…it was such a warm, comforting smell. She breathed deeply and sighed, trying to fall back into that pleasant, dreamless void.

But before she could, Morgana felt herself being lowered onto something soft and chilly. She cracked her eyes open to see Wolverine tucking her into bed, pulling the covers up around her.

"Wolverine?" She mumbled and he reached a hand out, smoothing it through her hair.

"Get some sleep, kid. Gotta get you settled in to the mansion tomorrow." He told her and that jostled her slightly awake.

"What if the Professor doesn't want me to stay? Or Cyclops? He seems like a douche." Morgana complained, both annoyance with Cyclops and fear that maybe the little bit of hope she had developed would turn out to be false after all. How weird…earlier that day, more than anything, she just wanted to get the hell out of there and find freedom on the open road once more. But now the thought of them not wanting her there was actually terrifying to her.

Wolverine smoothed his hand through her hair again and smiled, something that looked rare on his gaunt face.

"Don't worry. The Professor and I talked already and he said you could stay if you start classes next semester. He wants you here, don't worry. I'll tell him before breakfast you're staying and you can figure out the details tomorrow." Morgana nodded and smiled gratefully at his words. Finally, she could feel herself relaxing once more and she lowered her head on the pillow.

"Thank you, Wolverine. Ya don't…well actually, you probably do…know how much this all means to me. I haven't…had anything like a home in so long and knowing there's someone out there who's like me…well…thank you…thank you so much." Morgana murmured embarrassedly, not wanting to express this much emotion – especially not after earlier crying fit – but needing him to know exactly how grateful she was. He was nothing but a stranger to her and now he was potentially her first and only friend that would last.

"You're not the only one who gets something outta this. Now, rest. Rogue will be waking ya in a few hours." Wolverine said and removed his hand – did she suddenly feel cold? – and walked to her door. He called goodnight and softly shut the door.

Morgana smiled happily and relaxed into her pillow, excited to get some sleep before starting her first day in her new life tomorrow. She couldn't wait to see Cyclops' face…

"Wait a minute." She shot up in bed. "I HAVE TO GO TO SCHOOL?" Her shout was met with Wolverine's laughter on the other side of the door before he went into his own room and shut the door behind him. Morgana collapsed face first on the bed and moaned. School? She hadn't signed up for that at all! High school sounded bad enough these days but high school with a bunch of mutants who could barely control their powers when her only power was not dying?

She was screwed. Without a doubt

A/N

Welcome back to Wolverine Wednesday! Show of hands: Who thought I was gonna disappear again? HA! I'll be uploading every Wednesday, hopefully between 7 and 8 EST time. Last sappy-y chapter and then it's back to regularly scheduled snark next week. Gonna meet a few of the regular characters that'll be joining Morgana. Also some more explanations of her past in the next chapter or the one after. So thank you everyone for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and following! Got lots of good stuff planned so stick around, ya'll! 3

(Oh and I may or may not be planning another Wolverine story...another romance, maybe a little darker, and something that takes place outside of the X-Mansion...I'll let ya'll know if I do end up writing enough down to start posting but so far, I'm mentally kicking it around and I'm digging the idea.)


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: You know the drill. Wolverine is Stan's, Morgana is mine, and we'll call it even.

Chapter Ten

Morgana wanted to sleep forever. That was her plan and it was a damn good plan after the night she had. She knew the second she was awake – especially if it was before afternoon – she'd be beyond tired and sore from all the running and fighting. Therefore sleep sounded like the best plan ever, especially uninterrupted sleep. A coma sounded even better but she was going to take what she could.

But sadly, the universe didn't respect her excellent plan. Instead, she found herself coming back to the real world as the sound of knocking echoed throughout her room. What the hell?

"Morgana? Morgana, its 7:40!" A cheery voice called through the door. Despite the fact it was the last thing she wanted to do, Morgana struggled and managed to pry open her eyes. Once her eyes were open, she realized exactly how tired she was when the barest bit of light filtering through the window caused her to wince in agonizing pain.

"Comin'." She called and managed to roll herself out of her bed. The second her feet hit the floor, she practically slammed into the ground. Her calves were on fire from the strain of running all night. She might live forever but that didn't mean her muscles didn't ache and she didn't get tired or sore. That would make her power actually useful so naturally that didn't happen to her.

Morgana made her way to the door and slowly opened it, wincing against the light pooling in from the hallway. But not even the squinting and half-blindness could prevent her from seeing Rogue standing expectantly in front of the door, smiling shyly at her.

"Good morning, Morgana! Breakfast is in 20 minutes. Ya wanna get dressed and I can walk ya downstairs?" Rogue offered, all full of sunshine, hope, and optimism. It was more blinding than the sun but Morgana couldn't resist it even if she tried.

"Umm…sure. Give me five minutes, okay? You just sit on the bed if you want." Morgana grumbled and cracked the door open. She stomped inside and limped over to where her backpack lay on the floor, rifling through it blindly. She was wearing clothes, why did she need to wear different ones? Oh right, she was wearing shorts and a sleep shirt. That wasn't appropriate breakfast attire, was it?

"I'm guess you ain't a morning person, huh?" Rogue chuckled as she took her seat on the bed, watching the older girl move about the room.

"That's an understatement, kid." Morgana grunted, grabbing up the clothes she needed. She could afford a quick Army shower lasting two minutes, couldn't she?

"Aww…you sound so much like Wolverine." Rogue giggled and Morgana shot her a dark look. Nope, she was not ready to be compared to Wolverine…it was way too early and then all she could do was think of the events of last night and it was most definitely too earlier for that. She made a noncommittal noise and slipped into the bathroom, turning on the water and stepping underneath it before it even had a chance to turn warm.

Morgana hissed in pain at how freezing it was but it did the trick. In moments, her mind was running and even though she was still grumpy and not wanting to be awake, she could form thoughts easier and understand exactly why she was up at this hour. Namely to attend breakfast with Rogue before leaving…wait…that wasn't right.

"Holy crap." Morgana whispered and leaned her forehead against the wall, eyes wide and uncaring of the water dripping down her back and hair. She wasn't leaving after breakfast. She wasn't leaving ever…well, at least not for a while. Wolverine had chased after her…so much had happened…it was time for her to stay someplace and Wolverine was going to stay with her. He was like her, virtually immortal and he offered to stay with her…forever? It had sounded like forever last night but that was so crazy.

 _You're really staying? You think this is safe? What if it's a trick or they just want to use you? An immortal warrior is tempting…the government alone would shit themselves to get their hands on you. How do you know you can trust them?_

As much as she didn't want to admit it, that made sense. But there was something about the relieved look Wolverine had when he realized she too was curse with forever. It was like he was looking at someone that he could care about and not have to worry about losing. She could attest to how stressful it was to live life going through each day knowing every person she'd ever cared or would care for would end up dead. It was too heavy a burden to bare alone but maybe they wouldn't have to do it alone anymore?

Morgana decided she was definitely thinking too much and besides, it had been her designated 5 minutes. Time to get out of the shower, get dressed, and face the day. Who knows? Maybe Wolverine had changed his mind and she would be on her way after breakfast. Well, she doubted it but still…it could happen…

The young mutant woman exited the shower and dried off quickly, slipping into a (relatively) clean pair of jeans and a (mostly) fresh black t-shirt. Instead of spending the time fixing up her messy hair, she brushed it and tied it up into a bun. Yep, she was not sexy but it would do.

"Well, I'm ready." Morgana announced exiting the bathroom. Rogue glanced up from her phone with another shy smile and got up, leading her out the door.

"Who all is gonna be there for breakfast?" Morgana asked she followed the younger girl out the hallway and down the stairs. She prayed it was gonna be a small group of people but it was highly doubtful. The universe didn't love her that much.

"Oh, most of the teachers. I don't think any of the students who are staying here during the summer will be there. They don't like to get up early." Rogue informed her, causing her to pause in her anxiety and annoyance at being around most of the teachers to wonder how many students where there during the summer…it must be more than just her.

"How many students are here right now?"

"About 15 or so. More will be coming during the week since class starts next week."

"I see. Are these kids who…umm…aren't as welcome at home as they should be?"

"Yeah. Mostly these are the kids who were kicked out and can't come back even if they wanted to. Some are here by choice…well, they kinda don't really have a choice since their home life is hell but they could at least go back if they wanted to."

"You can't, I'm guessing?"

"No…Ah…ah can't." Rogue fell quiet and Morgana didn't ask anything more. She had a bad habit of asking too many questions – it was always best to have as much information as she could about a place, especially if she'd be staying there for a long period of time – but she didn't want to make the girl sad. Especially not before breakfast…she needed someone she knew there to save her or else she'd probably end up stabbing someone.

"Well, do you have a lot of friends here at school? Friends with any of the kids who stayed over the summer?" Morgana tried, figuring that was a safer subject to bring up. It was a school full of mutants, full of freaks to most modern society…how could Rogue not have friends here?

"Not really…ah've been kinda shy and some kids don't like mah power and think ah'm dangerous." Rogue said sadly as turned approached the kitchen. Ugh, now Morgana was severely pissed. Who the hell would be afraid of Rogue? Every mutant power –well, with the exception of hers kinda – could be extremely dangerous. It was pointless to be afraid of Rogue when they were all equally as dangerous. She was definitely going to have to do something about that.

"That's stupid. Everyone here is dangerous in their own way…to be afraid of you is just dumb. Well, I'm your friend, okay? If anyone else says shit about you, you just direct them to me." Morgana announced and impulsively interlocked her arm with Rogue's. It was affectionate and ridiculously preteen of her to do so but she figured Rogue needed as much willing physical contact as she could get. And judging by that joyous smile on her face, Morgana figured she had done the right thing.

"Thank yah, Morgana. I wish yah were staying." Rogue said wistfully and Morgana had to hide her own smile. It was going to be worth staying to see how happy she made the younger mutant girl. They turned into the kitchen and Morgana's smile completely fell away with a muffled groan. This was not the sight she wanted to be met with, especially not this morning.

The dining room table was pretty much filled with X-Men. Professor Xavier sat at the head with Cyclops and Jean sitting next to him. Storm, Gambit, and Beast were all there as well but they didn't bother Morgana as much as seeing the Professor – who stressed her out – and Cyclops – who very obviously pissed her and pretty much everyone else off. As far away from everyone else as possible sat Wolverine, with two empty chairs on either side of him.

Morgana figured those were going to be their seat and she was evidently right judging by how Rogue carefully pulled her towards Wolverine's side. Of course, why not make the morning even more awkward? Put her right beside the man who had seen her freak out, found out her deepest and darkest secret, and whom she ended up crying on for a few hours. Yep, the universe was showing its extreme love for her this morning.

"Morning, kitlings." Wolverine grumbled as Morgana carefully chose the seat on his left side, as far away from other people as possible. Rogue sat down on the other side and the table fell completely silent, looking up and either smiling at the arrival of the girls or frowning darkly as though he couldn't believe she was still there…that was definitely all Cyclops.

"Good morning, girls." Professor Xavier greeted them cheerfully.

"Good morning, Professor." Rogue was full of southern charm.

"Yo, dawg." Morgana was not.

"We may begin eating now that we're all here. I imagine none of the other students will be down this early." The Professor announced and everyone agreed, their attention turning down to the plate in front of them. Morgana was delighted to find a full southern breakfast, full of grits, gravy, potatoes, bacon, eggs, sausage…it looked absolutely delicious.

"Didya make this Rogue?" Morgana asked as she dug into the delicious, full breakfast. Could she even remember the last time she could afford breakfast? Yep, definitely not and the last breakfast she did have, she doubted was this good.

"Yes ma'am. I make breakfast most of the time during the week and Jean makes it on the weekend." Rogue replied, indicating the redheaded chick sitting next to the Professor. Morgana got a real stuck up vibe from her but maybe that was just because she seemed to be banging Cyclops. Any woman who would willingly put up with him was definitely iffy, no question about it.

"Morgana, how did you sleep?" Professor Xavier suddenly called out, breaking the lovely silence and causing Morgana to wince. No, she was not in the mood to answer questions and definitely not in the mood to answer questions about last night or anything personal. Really, couldn't he just take a morning off?

"I slept fine. Something about being surrounded by a bunch of potentially bloodthirsty mutant teenagers with hormonal issues really relaxes me." Morgana said with a smile, rewarded by Wolverine snorting and Rogue chuckling. At least they were entertained. All Xavier did was give her a tight smile, not quite used to her sarcastic and irreverent sense of humor quite yet.

"Ah well, I'm quite glad." He fell silent and frowned down at his food. Morgana was about to wonder why – he definitely knew something happened if Wolverine had talked to him this morning about her staying. He said he would…maybe he changed his mind. Maybe she wasn't welcome there or something, maybe he decided having a friend who young and female would be too bothersome and he didn't want to deal with it. Maybe….

 _Morgana, I would like to speak with you for a moment. Do you mind if I do so in your mind? I assure you, I'm not reading your memories…I can only hear the thoughts you project to me._

Morgana glared at him as she took a huge bite of food, not pleased in the slightest she could hear him in her thoughts again.

 _Fine. What do you want?_

 _Wolverine tells me you've decided to remain here indefinitely and to take classes with the rest of my students next week. Is this true?_

 _Yep. Though don't expect me to exert much effort with this school shit. Why do I have to go to school anyway? I'm out of high school._

 _Everyone who lives here either works or studies. I assumed you'd rather take some remedial classes and get to know those living here in a more casual way rather than working as a maid of sorts. We want you to feel like family._

 _Awww….one big, happy homicidal family. Getting a real Full House vibe. Which one is Uncle Jesse?_

 _Well then….I'm glad you're staying, at the very least. Is there any particular reason you're staying?_

 _Wolverine is a very convincing man. Plus, winter is coming eventually and I don't really want to spend it on the road again._

 _The people you're running from…they will not find you here?_

 _No._

 _Can you promise me this won't bring any harm to my students?_

 _Trust me, I'm harmless. I don't wanna hurt your students…they've been through enough, I imagine._

 _This is very true indeed. Rogue seems to have taken a liking to you…you and Wolverine are the only two people I've seen her act this affectionate with. Is she one of the reasons you're deciding to stay?_

 _Yeah. She's a good kid and she doesn't seem to have a lot of friends. I can help that._

 _Very well, then. I do need to know your power, though. As do my X-Men, your teachers. I know you're very private and I assure you we will be discreet. But it's a standard measure to know all my students powers and abilities to ensure they won't accidentally interfere or harm another student._

 _UGH. Fine. I heal and shit. Wounds heal instantly, I don't seem to age, and I never get sick. It's a useless power to anyone._

 _Ahhh…you're very similar to Wolverine, then._

 _Except he's got claws and he's strong. I'm just a girl who can't die, virtually useless._

 _Not necessarily. I actually think my X-Men could use you as a member. You would be a wonderful asset._

 _Ummm…what? I have no other abilities. Just not dying. What the hell?_

 _We will discuss this later. But if you're willing, I'd like to see what you can do and potentially see about training you to utilize your power a little more._

 _Okay….why not…._

 _Now that this has concluded, would you mind if I announced to everyone your intention to stay?_

 _Knock yourself out, Professor._

 _Very well._

 _Hey, Professor?_

 _Yes, Morgana?_

 _I know I'm sarcastic, sardonic, and sometimes an all-around bitch. Probably not going to change that or act respectfully towards you like everyone else does. I am definitely not going to kiss your ass like Cyclops. But I want you to know I'm grateful you're allowing me to stay. I haven't had anything resembling a home in a while and this means…well I'm….thank you._

 _You are very welcome, child. This mansion is your home for as long as you wish it to be._

With that, Professor Xavier retreated from her mind. Morgana realized during that time she had absent mindedly finished her food, as had most everyone else. Now they were all talking, laughing, sharing stories about the previous missions and talking about the new students who be arriving in the next few days and how to best prepare for the oncoming semester. She was certain Rogue had tried to talk to her at some point during her mental conversation but thankfully Wolverine seemed to have distracted her and was awkwardly asking her if she was excited for the coming semester.

"You okay?" Wolverine asked her lowly, his sharp eyes glancing between her and Xavier. Apparently, he knew the look of two people conversing telepathically and she got the impression he liked it about as much as she did.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just having a little chit chat with the Professor." Morgan said just as Professor Xavier cleared his throat and attempted to get everyone's attention. Everyone stopped talking and turned their attention to the Professor as he smiled fondly at them all.

"Attention, X-Men! I would like to be the first to extend a warm welcome and congratulations to Miss Morgana Watson. She has decided to stay here at the mansion indefinitely and will be beginning class next week with the rest of our students. We are all overjoyed at our next addition to the school and delighted to have you, my dear." Professor Xavier announced and everyone started clapping happily/politely, as all eyes turned to Morgana.

She utterly hated being the center of attention. She had always hated it and she hated it now more than ever, it was definitely not something that was going to ever change. But she was surprised and pleased that most everyone there looked happy at her choice, as though she mattered. Even Jean had a smile on her face and it didn't look fake or strained.

Rogue had gasped and covered her mouth with her hand in shock but now she was grinning from ear to ear and she leaned over to hug her. Morgana glanced superstitiously at Wolverine and caught his eye. He looked content and flashed her a fanged smile, patting her shoulder once which she figured was as close to a hug as he could manage. The only one who didn't look thrilled, naturally, was Cyclops…but at the very least, he didn't say anything.

"No way! Yah really staying and yer gonna be a student?" Rogue exclaimed as she let go of the older mutant, looking so happy she could practically start dancing. So happy and all because she had decided to stay…that was such a weird concept.

"Yep! I told ya, I'm your friend now and I'll beat up any of the punks who try to mess with you. I decided I couldn't just leave you." Morgana said with a smile, trying to force herself to say emotional things without gagging and dying. She was allergic to love and affection but god dang it, she could relate and understand Rogue so well and she deserved one damn friend in that place who was closer to her age.

"I'm so happy!" Rogue squealed and Morgana felt a twinge of pride. She was so happy and it was all because she had decided to stay. Look at that, she did that. She had made someone else that happy and they were happy just because she was going to be around. She mattered.

"I'm glad, kid." Morgana said softly and gave her a quick hug. Ugh, so many hugs and emotion. It was suffocating her. People at the table started getting up and taking their plates to the sink, which was exactly what Morgana wanted to do as well. She needed to escape the hugging, emotions, and extreme amounts of attention on her…but exactly what she'd be doing next, she wasn't sure.

"Morgana, before you go, may I speak with you, Wolverine, and Rogue in the living room?" Professor Xavier asked and she groaned. More talking? That was precisely what she wanted to avoid. But instead she nodded and shared a glance with Rogue but she looked just as puzzled. Wolverine grunted and followed after Xavier into the living room.

Morgana and Rogue trailed behind and the elder of the two was quite irritated to find Cyclops following them as well. Geez, who invited him? Guess he really was glued to the Professor's apron strings. But she pushed those thoughts aside she followed onto the homey couch by the fireplace and stared expectantly at Professor Xavier.

Oooh, her first debriefing!

A/N

Sorry I'm a little late on the upload! I wanna try to get it up between 7 and 8 EST but I have family coming in so I've been trying to clean all day. ALSO GANG. I'm working on three other stories simultaneously in my free time so I might be uploading one or two, depending on how well it goes. Anyone a fan of Tony Stark or True Blood? ;) Happy Wolverine Wednesday and thank you so much for reading, reviewing, and liking my little old story. OH and sorry if this chapter ended on a weird note. I couldn't find a better way to splice it without it ending up 20 pages long. Next few chapters will be on the longer side though! I'M TALKING TOO MUCH. HAVE A WONDERFUL NIGHT. SEE YA'LL NEXT WEEK!


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men, just Morgana!

Chapter Eleven

"Now, we need to discuss a few arrangements for you." Professor Xavier announced once everyone got settled. Morgana and Rogue sat on the sofa near the fireplace, Wolverine standing behind them, and naturally Cyclops took his place at Xavier's side like the puppy he was.

"Define arrangements." Morgana narrowed her eyes suspiciously, already not liking where this was going.

"Well, we need to ascertain what grade you should be in, where you'll be staying, getting you some clothing…just minor details that would be best to handle right away considering the rest of the students will be here in the next few days." The Professor explained and while all that made sense, Morgana still didn't like formal meetings and lectures about things she needed to get done. Lord God, she had just decided to stay, why rush all the minor inconsequential things?

"Woah, hold up. What do you mean where I'll be staying? I've already got a room and I like my room." Morgana asked. Her grade was easy to figure out and clothes…yeah, she had no idea what that meant. But where she was staying was already decided on in her book.

"You can't stay in that room. That's the teachers' quarters." Cyclops informed her calmly, crossing his arms over his chest as though he was preparing for her to defy him. Good job, you guessed exactly what she was going to do because no way in hell was she moving rooms.

"Yeah…I'm not leaving. I am not a teenager and I'm not staying with a bunch of moody, hormonal teenagers with super powers. That isn't happening and good luck trying to make it happen." Morgana's smile was full of challenge and taunt, praying he tried to fight her. Rogue glanced between the man she knew as her teacher and the woman she had grown to like in the past day with wide eyes, not used to such open acts of defiance.

"If you're not a teenager, you don't need to be going to school then."

"I was invited to be a student here. Got a problem? Whine to them, not me."

"The Professor didn't know about your age or I'm sure he wouldn't have offered."

"Well, if I'm not a student because I'm old and dangerous, obviously I can't be around the little kids. Better stay with the adults. Thank God the room I'm not moving from is surrounded by responsible adults."

"If you're not a student, you shouldn't even stay! Why don't you go back to where you came from?"

"Bite me. I guess I'll go back to where I came if I'm to be so unwanted." Morgana snapped and stood up suddenly, so pissed and willing to walk out the front door right then and there.

"No!" Wolverine growled, Rogue shouted, and the Professor said calmly. The only one who didn't say "no" in some type of voice or another was naturally Cyclops who looked decidedly sour at the notion that people were telling her not to go.

"Sit down, all of you." The Professor commanded and naturally everyone obeyed. Morgana sat down and instantly Rogue scooted a little closer, as though she would grab and hold on to her if she tried leaving again. Wolverine pressed closer against the back of the sofa and she could already picture him grabbing her by the scruff of the neck if she tried bolting or standing up again.

"Now, everyone will be silent for the next few moments, thank you. Morgana, how old are you?" Professor Xavier asked, leaning forward as his bright blue eyes pierced into hers.

"I'm 19."

"Wait, that IS still a teenager!" Cyclops snapped and Xavier shot him a quick glare.

"Yes, technically…biologically. Mentally I passed that shit up years ago and I'm not staying in a den full of overpowered children."

"Does this have anything to do with your power?"

"….yes, to a degree. I also don't like people or noise."

"Fair enough. Your room in the teachers' quarters will stay and you will start school with everyone else. Here at Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, we have people of all ages in all different grades. We even have some adults taking remedial classes. You can begin taking whatever classes you elect to take so as to further your education."

"I'm down with that. What about you, Cykes? We coolio with this?" Morgana flashed Cyclops a grin, daring him to say anything against what the Professor said. He couldn't say shit and he knew that so he just nodded and glared at the floor.

"Excellent! Now then, today we shall give you a physical to make sure you're healthy enough for class Monday. Tomorrow, Rogue can take you out shopping for any supplies and clothes you may need. Sunday I will personally evaluate your abilities and see if you qualify to begin junior X-Men training."

"Junior X-Men? Huh?"

"Junior X-Men are those who are either too young or too inexperienced to be full-fledged members of my team. They train diligently to control their powers and learn how to work and fight as part of a team until they are ready to be full-fledged members of the X-Men. Sunday is evaluation for the entire school, to see where everyone stands. Depending on your abilities and powers, I'll be making a junior X-Men team and placing you on it."

"Woah, woah, woah! Me? Junior X-Men? When did I sign up for this? I have a useless power and I'd be shit on a team. Besides, how do you know I even want to do that?"

"You do not have to if you don't want to but you are not "shit" and your power is not useless. Every power is useful and can be a great assist, depending on the team and leader you're working on and under. I feel very strongly that you will do well on a team suited to your particular skill. You don't have to decide anything right now but I do urge you quite strongly to allow me to evaluate you and we can discuss this further then."

Morgana fell silent and merely nodded, chewing her bottom lip thoughtfully. The idea of being some kind of superhero seemed insane to her, especially considering her super power was not useful in any situation. All she could was not die…how was that helpful? She couldn't fight, fly, or do anything really heroic. But the thought of being on the X-Men, as much as she hated to admit it even to herself, was pretty tempting.

Going from a nobody to a hero…yeah, she could get into that.

"Well, now that that's all decided…I'm going to inform Hank you'll be meeting him for your physical. How does 1PM sound? You can head to the infirmary right after lunch."

"Ummm…what the hell…sure, I guess." Morgana was definitely not excited about being looked over by a doctor but considering she hadn't been to the doctor in…well, ever….she could understand the point of a visit. Professor Xavier smiled at them all and excused himself from the room. Before he left, he turned back.

"Cyclops, I believe you should come with me. You and Morgana need to avoid each other as much as possible, it would appear." He said sternly and Cyclops looked almost guilty for being such a massive prick. He nodded and trailed after the Professor like the whipped little puppy he really was.

That left Morgana alone with Rogue and Wolverine. Which was both nice, warming, and awkward…seriously, why was Wolverine always there?

"Well, I should go unpack if I'm going to be staying here indefinitely. I assume I'll see the both of you later?" Morgana announced suddenly as she stood up. She really needed to get out of there and have a little bit of alone time…too much time surrounded by people was definitely not something she was accustomed to and she really needed a break.

"Do you want some help?" Rogue asked hopefully and Morgana winced. She really didn't want any help…she just wanted an hour or so to be by herself and figure out exactly what the hell she was doing there. But she didn't want to hurt Rogue's feelings or turn her away.

"Why don't you give her a little time? I need some help figuring out my stupid fucking lesson plan for this year anyway and I need a kid's opinion." Wolverine offered and Rogue's face lit up at the idea of being useful, letting Morgana entirely off the hook. As she glanced between the two of them and noticed Wolverine's slight smile, she figured that was exactly what his plan had been. He did that on purpose just to give her a little time…exactly how did he know she needed that?

 _Remember, he's like you. He might be more animal than you are but with the same powers and similar futures…maybe even similar pasts…of course he knows you need a little time to yourself._

Morgana shrugged and gave everyone a wave.

"I'll catch up with ya'll before lunch. Rogue, would you kindly come get me before lunch? I don't know what time it is or anything." Morgana offered and Rogue nodded with a smile, pleased that she was being asked to help her friend Wolverine and given the chance to see Morgana and spend more time with her one on one later. Basically, her day was being made over and over again.

"Okay! See ya soon, Morgana." Rogue said and followed Wolverine out of the room, heading to wherever the older mutant was going to be going over his lesson plans. Morgana waited a few minutes after they had left before she exited the living room and found her way to the stairs again. She headed to her room as quickly as possible, thankfully not encountering anyone else on her way up.

She reached her room and slid inside, locking it behind her just in case. Finally, she had some longed for peace and quiet, without any more mutant teachers and weird professors. Wolverine and Rogue weren't so bad and even if she didn't quite know how to feel about the older man, he didn't stress her out like Cyclops and the Professor did. The other teachers stressed her out a little too but only because she hadn't really talked to them and didn't know what they thought of her exactly.

Morgana practically groaned out loud as she moved over to her backpack. She hated doctors, needles…anything of that nature. It reminded her too much of certain aspects of her past; the really, really dark aspects and the "my parents don't really care enough to take me to the doctor" aspects. Both of them were full of memories she'd rather not ever have to think of but the very notion of going to be examined by a doctor definitely made her anxious.

But Hank seemed pretty nice. He was friendly when they first met and he had a kind spirit about him. Maybe being examined like a glorified lab rat wouldn't be so terrible with him. At the very least he'd probably distract her with pleasant, non-stressful conversation.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Morgana lifted her backpack and upturned it on her bed. She didn't have very much at all but if she was going to be living there for over a few days, she was definitely going to unpack. It would make her feel a lot better and more organized. And a tiny part of her – one she was trying to ignore because it made her feel small and young again – wanted to feel like this room was truly hers, this was truly her new home. She wanted to unpack, get her things situated the way she liked them, and feel like she and her stuff belonged there.

Morgana separated her pants, shirts, and underwear, and folded the clean ones and threw the dirty ones – which was the majority – in the corner of the room to be cleaned. After she got herself unpacked and fixed up in her room, she'd see about finding a laundry room and getting her stuff cleaned. For now, she took her clean clothes over to the chest of drawer and started putting them away.

Now that everything was unpacked, Morgana tossed her empty backpack in the closet and turned to her dirty clothes. She definitely needed to do laundry if she wanted to wear anything fresh tomorrow. All she had was a clean pair of jeans and a clean shirt but nothing really else that would work and besides, her only jacket was dirty and she definitely wanted that washed before tomorrow if they were going anywhere. It was freezing in New York, despite the fact it was only the end of August. Made her think that the winter was going to be unpleasant indeed…and she was stuck there indefinitely.

Why couldn't she be at a mansion in Hawaii? It always had to be someplace cold. So much for the southern comfort she was hoping to hitchhike and find. But at least she had a place to stay and someplace to call home…even if it ended up only being temporary.

"Laundry. Laundry room…I really should've asked for a map." Morgana muttered before scooping up her dirty clothes and stuffing them in a plastic bag she kept around for this very purpose. She walked over to her door and cracked it open, peaking her head outside. She was so torn; part of her didn't want to run into any of the teachers but at the same time, she had no idea where she was going and it would be nice to ask for some help.

But since the hallway seemed empty and she couldn't hear anything coming from Wolverine's room, Morgana decided the only thing to do was forge ahead and go exploring. She figured the laundry room was definitely going to be on the first floor – it usually was, right? It sounded right – so she headed for the stairs and started down them. So far, she had been in the kitchen, living room, Professor Xavier's office, and the stairway that led into the….super-secret underground bat cave. Or whatever the hell they wanted to call it, because she was definitely calling it the underground bat cave from now on.

Morgana decided to head down past the kitchen, hoping the logic that the laundry room being close to the kitchen made sense. And it seemed like it did because the next door past the kitchen definitely looked like it would end up being the laundry room. But as she creaked it open, she was greeted instead with a broom closet.

"Fucking damn it." Morgana cursed and stared unseeingly at the brooms, trying to figure out where she should try next. She was about to turn around when a voice behind her nearly scared her half to death.

"HI! Are you the maid? I didn't know we had a maid!" Morgana whirled around and nearly fell over in surprise. Why the hell did everyone there think sneaking up on her was a good idea? Sneaking up on anyone being a good idea? How many people must have been stabbed to death by Wolverine because they suck up on him? Maybe that was who was in the graveyard they flew over…..

"Ohmygosh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you. I just thought I'd say hi." The voice apologized and Morgana looked up and nearly groaned. It was another young looking girl. She looked a hell of a lot perkier than Rogue and stood with a fashionable looking teenage attire of black leggings and a yellow tank top. Perched on her head was…goggles? Okay, that was slightly weird.

"It's okay, I just wasn't expecting you." Morgana said, her heartbeat slowing down. She was going to die of a heart attack or stroke before it was time to leave the mansion, she just knew it…it was fate. The universe gave her something nice ish only to take it away by scaring her to death.

"Oh well, I'm Jubilation Lee. But call me Jubilee, everyone else does." Jubilee stuck out her hand and Morgana shook it with a bemused smile. Who did handshakes at her age?

"I'm Morgana…just Morgana. I'm sure I'll get a cool nickname eventually." She laughed, wondering how exactly these X-Men and students ended up with names anyway. Was it voted on or were they all somehow related to their powers?

"It's nice to meet you! Whatcha doing in the broom closet? ARE you the new maid?"

"Nah, I'm a…student here. I just got here today. So I kinda don't know where anything is and I was hoping to find the laundry room."

"Ohmahgosh, another student! So am I! This is my first year here. I got here this summer cause my parents didn't want me in their house anymore so I've been just chilling all summer and I'm so excited to start school. Are you excited to start school? Maybe we'll have classes together!"

"Good god, woman. Is your power speaking at the speed of light?" Morgana asked with wide eyes, having never heard anyone talk as quickly or as enthusiastically as Jubilee. She didn't even sound upset about her parents not wanting her anymore; it certainly didn't affect her speed or obvious cheer. Jubilee laughed and was about to answer when another voice spoke up.

"Nah, Jubilee's power is being the most obnoxiously peppy person ever."

Morgana resisted the urge to whirl around in shock again. It would not look good to keep doing that, especially not in front of the other students. She had to keep her cool game up…at least until they realized what a klutz she was.

Standing behind them was a boy this time. He looked around Jubilee's age – which was, what, 16 or 17 – with brown hair and kind eyes. Despite the fact that Morgana figured all teenage boys were jerks, he actually looked halfway decent and fairly nice. It was encouraging, especially if she was going to be forced to be around them all the time.

"Bobby! That isn't nice, you know! I don't talk nearly as much as ya'll say I do." Jubilee huffed but Morgana patted her shoulder and reached out a hand to shake his, figuring she should be more forward in introducing herself to people. It was not her intention to make a bunch of friends but it couldn't hurt to be friendly.

"Do ya'll always pop up out of nowhere? I'm Morgana, by the way." The kid named Bobby shook her hand and offered her an easy grin.

"I'm Bobby, also known as Iceman."

"Oh Jesus, another nickname. I'm guessing your powers are pretty…cool?"

Both of them groaned.

"You're the first to make that pun, not even kidding. And yeah, you're spot on. What kinda power do you have?"

Oh no, the dreaded question. The question she hated to answer, the question that makes her uncomfortable and awkward and anxious and upset. It drove her crazy because she didn't trust people with the information. But then again, she had to trust her classmates at least a little. Not like they could permanently hurt her anyway.

"It's pretty lame. I heal super-fast and can't seem to die. Kinda like Wolverine but nothing practical about it."

"No way! That's totally cool though. Like, that would be really helpful on a team. Don't you think so, Bobby?"

"Yeah, it is really cool. Kinda sucks though…people must hurt you a lot to demonstrate it, right?" Bam! That's exactly why she didn't like telling people; more than one had tried instantly stabbing her to see if she was telling the truth.

"Bingo! So if ya don't mind, keep my power on the down low. I start school with ya'll next week and I wanna try to go as long as possible without getting hit by something to see if I really do heal."

"You got it. So, what are you doing down here by the broom closet anyway? You ladies swapping cleaning secrets?"

"Oh, I was looking for the laundry room. I have a mandatory school doctor meeting with Beast after lunch and was getting my chores down before then." Morgana explained, realizing she had totally gotten lost talking to the two of them and yet she was still caring her bag full of laundry. She had no idea how late it was but she definitely wanted to get her laundry done as soon as possible. Then she had another social lunch before a doctor's appointment….yay, the thing she was looking forward to the least. Even the "evaluation" with the Professor sounded less annoying than that.

"Ummm…come to think of it, I don't think I've seen the laundry room. Usually we just put our clothes in a dirty clothes bin and the teacher's do them for us…it's supposed to make think of home and family and moms, ya know? It's subliminal cause that's how the Professor rolls….HA! ROLLS! But yeah, I have no clue. We can totally go find it though!" Jubilee explained enthusiastically, leading Morgana to wonder if she was physically capable of saying or doing anything without massive amounts of enthusiasm and pep. Bobby seemed on board with the idea as well so she shrugged and offered them a grin.

"Yeah sure, sounds like an adventure. If ya'll wanna go." Jubilee nodded enthusiastically.

"I have nothing better to do. It's damn boring around here during the summer." Bobby explained and led the way down the hall. He took charge of opening doors and peaking inside, trying to figure out which secret room was hiding the laundry room.

"Oh, ya'll are summer kids. What do ya'll do? Anyone else here that ya'll hang out with?"

"There's me and Jubs, Rogue is around but she's shy…Kurt who's also pretty shy but a cool dude…and John…who is pretty much a dick but he can be funny, especially when he's going after the teachers."

"Sounds like you've got quite the little mutant gang. You'll have to introduce me to the others. I'm getting lunch - probably at around 12 - so maybe we could all take over the dining room table. It would keep the teachers out of there, I guarantee you."

"How do you figure that?"

"Cyclops and I despise each other with a burning passion and if John doesn't do well with authority figures, I bet he and Cyke hate each other too. The two of us combined? He'll never stay." Morgana explained with a grin and her two…friends? Maybe friends? Getting close to friends? Well, she'll call them friends for now, ended up laughing. Seems like Cyclops was not well received with anyone in the mansion.

"Oh my gosh! That sounds amazing! Bobby, after we find the laundry room, we gotta get Kurt, Rogue, and John. It's gonna be funny! The teachers haven't seen us all together all summer…they'll run for the hills!"

"Ooh, don't worry about Rogue, she's getting me for lunch so I'll fill her in then."

"Okay! We'll meet you at your room right before lunch. Which room are you in?"

"I'm right next to Wolverine's room, on the left side. In the teachers' quarters?" Bobby and Jubilee stopped walking, hand on the door they were about to throw open. They shared a look filled with shock as Bobby spoke up.

"How the hell did you manage to get into the teacher's quarters? They stay on the other side of the mansion specifically to get away from us."

"Oh, they put me there for the night when I was only supposed to be staying for a night. Cyclops tried moving me this morning but I told him to bite me."

"….oh my god. Thank God you're staying here permanently and taking class. This year is gonna fucking rock." Bobby grinned at her while Jubilee laughed and threw open the next door. They seemed amused beyond anything that she could have the balls to stand up to Cyclops. Everyone might hate him but he was still second in command of the Cyclops, which made him the second most powerful man there. Though, Morgana figured, Wolverine had to have been the scariest member of the X-Men. Consistently gruff, grumpy, and he could growl like a wolf? Yeah, no, Cyclops could never come close to that level of fear.

"Hey, lookie there!" Jubilee celebrated as they realized that they had finally found the stupid laundry room. That had only taken 15 minutes of searching and adventuring. But hey, it was worth it as they had a plan to annoy Cyclops for lunch.

"Awesome! Thanks for helping me find it, ya'll. I would've been wandering around forever." Morgana thanked them with a grateful smile. Jubilee and Bobby smiled back and it kinda warmed her heart a little.

"No problem! You'll be paying us back by joining us for lunch."

"Yeah, totally awesome meeting you! We're gonna go get everyone together and we'll be at your room a few minutes before lunch. KK?"

"Got it. See ya'll then!" Morgana waved at them and the two of them disappeared down the hall, chattering excitedly. After they disappeared, Morgana quickly turned back to her laundry with a smile. First day there and she had already managed to get invited to lunch with a group. Not bad for what used to be a social outcast…things were certainly getting interesting.

A/N

I'm so so sorry I'm a little late, ya'll! I HAVE A VALID REASON. Guess who is 25 and has CHICKEN POX? Me -_- My Mom got shingles and I got the chicken pox from her. And YES, I WAS VACCINATED AS A CHILD. STILL ENDED UP GETTING IT. I'm dying, ya'll. It's the worst. So editing/writing this chapter was so hard and I'm right under the wire for Wolverine Wednesday. I hope ya'll liked it! Next chapter will introduce two more main characters. Going for a more X-Men Evolution vibe in places. And I'm sorry but I just really dislike Cyke sometimes so I'm making him the cliché douche we all know he wants to be, deep down ;) Hopefully I'll be back to normal next week and more on time! Have a great night!


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I own nothing of the X-Men, just my OC!

Chapter Twelve

Morgana stuck around to finish washing and drying her laundry before hauling it back up the stairs. She didn't encounter any of the teachers though she was fairly certain she saw Gambit disappearing down a hall at one point but she rushed past the hallway quickly so as to avoid any conversation. She was pretty decent at talking to kids and gaining their trust and appreciation but those teachers were a different subject. That just felt awkward and something about them having full control of their powers definitely worried her. She may be a Mutant but she was low on the "mutant food chain".

She managed to get back to her room without incident or getting lost in the winding hallways and quickly put her clothes up. Afterwards, she disappeared into the bathroom to refreshen her hair and the little make up she was wearing. As she fixed herself up, she lost herself in thought a little bit.

Morgana hadn't had much schooling. It wasn't like she was stupid or couldn't handle it but her parents…well, school wasn't exactly top of their priority list. And then other events happened in her life that prevented her from "hitting the books", not to mention being on the run for the past few years. She always kept up with learning as much as she could whenever she could. But she grew up too fast on the road. She was physically 19 but after being surrounded by adults, perverts, and quite possibly criminals most of the time, she was anything but a teenager.

But Morgana had still managed to capture Rogue's heart and charmed Jubilee and Bobby. The only problem was…what the hell was she doing? She wasn't a true teenager, had no clue how social circles amongst peers her own age or in school with her worked, and she had no idea what mutant school was going to end up being like. And yet she had somehow managed to get them to form a group – with two people she hadn't even met yet but was going to meet soon apparently – to eat lunch together. And she got along really well with them, too.

It was easy to figure out what that meant. She could practically smell it now. That was going to be her school group…it was going to be just like those high school movies she had watched. People she'd eat lunch with, hang out with, talk to…dare she say? She had the possibility for friends now. And that was terrifying.

 _Don't get too attached, idiot. They're going to die decades before you, remember?_

Morgana turned away from the mirror abruptly. She hadn't forgotten that and she wouldn't. She couldn't get too fond of anyone other than MAYBE Wolverine and even he was not something she really wanted to form an attachment to, not really. She didn't want to get attached to anyone but at least Wolverine was somewhat safer considering they had the same power.

She definitely didn't want to think of anything like that now. Nope, she was too entertained by how well things were going. Well, beside the evaluation she didn't want to go to Sunday and the doctor's appointment she definitely didn't want to go to after lunch…what was tomorrow? Oh yeah, she had some kind of shopping spree with Rogue but that probably wasn't going to be as bad. Everything else sucked, as far as things she had to do went. But at least she was making friends and getting to annoy Cyclops, those were such pluses.

Morgana had just gone back into her room when a knock sounded on the door.

"Morgana, its lunch time, sugah." That was most definitely Rogue's soothing southern tone and Morgana headed for the door. She threw the door open with a smile, determined to be in the best mood ever today.

"Hey Rogue! Did you hear the news?"

"Umm, what news?" Before Morgana could explain, voices interrupted from down the hall. Good lord, she forgotten how loud a bunch of teenagers could be in one place…it was kinda interesting. It brought back memories and the memories weren't even all that bad.

"Hey guys!" Jubilee waved with Bobby by her side. Following them was two more boys…one was a typical blonde looking dude, wearing jeans and a plaid shirt and jean jacket that somehow managed to look cool. The other was…definitely different. He was all blue…not furry like that Beast dude but literally all blue as though he was painted and he had a long, forked tail that flickered back and forth behind him, almost like a cat. Yep, she was definitely being reminded that they were all mutants.

"Morgana, this is John and Kurt." Bobby introduced, pointing the blonde one out as John and the blue looking monkey as Kurt. Morgana smiled and waved awkwardly at them, definitely not comfortable with meeting multiple people at once. She was already feeling slightly stressed out by all the people but they all were smiling…well, except for John. He was frowning at her but then again, they had called him a dick.

Rogue looked utterly shocked at seeing everyone there.

"Umm…so…what's going on?" She asked hesitantly, not quite grasping why the teacher's quarters were suddenly full of the only remaining students who were there during the summer. Apparently, this was definitely not normal.

"I ran into Bobby and Jubilee trying to find the laundry room and we figured out that if all of us come together for lunch, the teachers won't eat with us. It seems John and authority don't get along very well…hello, fellow asshole. It's delightful to meet you." Morgana smirked at John and was rewarded with a brief smile. He pushed past Bobby and Rogue and walked right up to her, looking her up and down.

"So, you're a mutie too, huh? What's your name?"

"Someone already said it…Morgana."

"I mean you're mutant name, your true name. Not the name those human assholes gave you."

"Ah, you mean my super-secret decoder ring name? Don't have one yet. I'll let you know when I do. What's yours? Is it surfer dude?"

"Pyro."

"Lemme guess, you're a flame brain?"

"Oh something like that. What can you do?"

"I'm Wolverine without the claws and better personality. I can't die and heal instantly." That definitely got John's attention. His eyes lit up in surprise and glee, the same kind of look she had seen in several people's eyes when they had realized her unique ability. Bobby, Jubilee, and Rogue never got that look in their eyes but that's because they seemed to be good hearted people. John wasn't necessarily bad but he definitely wasn't a sweetheart of a guy.

"I know what you want to do. You do it, we cool? At least for the weekend until I can prove I'm a badass bitch enough for you to hang around with during the week." Morgana asked coolly, quirking an eyebrow up at him with a look of something close to challenge. John's eyes widened and it was apparent he didn't think she was going to take him up on that.

"What are ya'll talking about? It's like you two are in on something we're not!" Jubilee complained and Morgana glanced around her. It was obvious John was the bad boy and therefore, a little bit of an outsider in the group. On top of that, Rogue absolutely adored her for whatever reason…so them sticking around and watching what was about to take place was definitely not going to be a good thing. Time to get them a little bit of privacy.

"We're in an alpha male/female pissing match. As the two with bad/snarky attitudes who are directly opposed to the authority of Cyclops, we must have a mini battle of words and will to see if we can coexist peacefully to cause mutually agreed upon chaos. As such, we will require two minutes of privacy to settle our differences. If ya'll would be so good as to meet us at the bottom of the stairs, we'll be along post haste." Morgana explained this all with an easy smile and it was light enough that everyone fond it amusing.

"Oh, nice to meet you, Kurt! Your skin really goes well with your eyes." Morgana called, winking at him. Somehow, she figured people probably either teased him meanly or was too afraid to make mention of his skin. But yeah, she wasn't afraid to say anything to anyone…censoring herself was something she had tried to do but never quite managed. Kurt stared at her in shock before grinning shyly and ducking his head, trailing after everyone as they headed down the stairs.

After they were gone, Morgana turned back to John and gave him a cool smile.

"So, we doing this or didya get cold feet, flame brain?" She taunted and John grinned, all teeth and challenge now. He held out his hand and indicated she was supposed to do the same. Inwardly sighing, Morgana rolled up her sleeve all the way – she quite liked that Falling in Reverse band tee she had stolen from Hot Topic that one time in Boston and was not about to have it singed – and offered her pale, white hand to John to do whatever he wanted.

"This is going to hurt." He informed her calmly and laid his hand underneath hers.

"No way! Burning my hand for your entertainment is going to hurt? Next thing you know, you'll tell me water is wet." Morgana rolled her eyes, determined not to look away or show any weakness. Pyro was the sort who wanted to test her power, see if she could handle the pain and see how "neat" it would be for her skin to heal up. A lot of guys were like that, whether they wanted to admit it or not.

Pyro looked her in the eyes as he activated his mutant ability. Suddenly, his hand erupted into flames and they sparked up wild and high, burning through her hand in instant and jumping up to blaze between them. The pain was excruciating, one of the worst sensations she had felt in a very, very long time. Perhaps even ever…she hadn't been burnt yet. But despite the sheer agony, she kept her hand still, face as relaxed as possible, and she didn't make a noise. After a few agonizingly long seconds, the flames sunk back into John's hand and disappeared.

"Well fucking hell, that hurt." Morgana commented mildly, wishing she could reach up and swipe away the sweat that was no doubt streaming down her face. But she knew the whole point of that was to see if she could endure the pain and to examine her hand afterwards. Really, she had no idea why people were so fascinated with her power…it really was quite useless in her eyes.

John reached his hand out and gingerly touched hers, poking it and turning it, looking at it this way and that. He was being so gentle with it, as though afraid of hurting her. It almost made her laugh because hadn't he just tried to burn her hand off? What happens if she had been lying and she hadn't been able to heal instantly?

His eyes widened as her blackened skin slowly but surely knitted back together and turned back to a light, pink color. After a second, she flexed her fingers and felt immense relief that there didn't seem to be a scar or any lasting effect. Thank GOD. She had been stabbed and shot before but never burnt and she would have definitely murdered him if somehow he managed to leave a scar.

"Wow…it's absolutely unchanged. Impressive." John breathed, looking over her hand one more time before releasing it. Morgana yanked her sleeve down and tried to discreetly wipe the sweat out of her eyes and face. Yep, she looked totally smooth and subtle.

"Yeah, ya'll people are way too impressed with that. I can't die, woot."

"It's impressive. You'd make a valuable ally…you can't die and you could just slowly kill everyone, even without powers. Most mutants can't survive a bullet to the brain."

"Well, speaking of allies…are we good now? Dick waving contest over? You scare the other kids cause you're a total badass, you can torch anything and everyone, and you're pretty intimidating. But I can't die and I have an extremely high pain tolerance so anything you try won't work on me. Even if you can bring down the entire school – which, hey, you know, maybe you could – you can't bring down me. So instead of us spending the school year fighting and showing off, I propose we ally ourselves together. Save ourselves a little trouble and I think this school needs to be shaken up. We can take on Cyclops together…what do you say?"

Of course, causing chaos and trouble for authority figures and screwing with Cyclops sounded amazing. But in reality, Morgana acknowledged that John was a bit unstable and that little display hadn't just been a pissing contest won between them…she wanted to see his power as well. And it was a heck of a power, already fairly well controlled and fire was pretty damn hard to beat. He was strong, unstable, and with a bad attitude…she needed to win his respect, earn his trust, and have him on her side.

The X-Men she had met seemed nice but how far did that go? Besides that, were they all trust worthy? And there was always the possibility of the government showing up and screwing with them. Or just plain John going crazy and trying to kill them all. These were all dangers she had to consider. Best to have one of the strongest mutants there on her side when the shit hits the fan.

Judging by John's smile and that glow in his eyes, she figured she had him won over already. Score one for the socially inept girl who had no idea what she was doing.

"Alright. Allies for now…just don't try to betray me or rat me out to the teachers."

"Same goes for me. Most of them seem cool but Cyclops? Nah, fuck him, we gotta screw with him. He's asking for it." The two of them laughed and John stuck out his hand for her to shake. She did so, feeling like they were making some kind of awesome, private deal between the two of them. None of the others would understand exactly what they had done there and she wasn't going to bother trying to explain.

All they needed to know was somehow, her and John were cool and they were going to watch the school burn together…hopefully metaphorically.

"Let's go!"

A/N

I'm surviving the chicken pox guys and I managed another chapter! WOOT! Sorry this is short. Next chapter, I'll try to make super long. Just been a busy, off week for me. Uploading it a bit early to make up for it! Thank you everyone for the kind reviews and well wishes. I'm almost fully mended and there's plenty more to come! Happy Wolverine Wednesday and have a great night/day!


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men!

Chapter Thirteen

John and Morgana caught up with the rest of the group of young adults at the bottom of the stairs. Rogue looked back and forth between the two of them with a frown, almost positive something had happened between the two of them that was really important but not quite understanding what it was. If Morgana had her way, she would never figure it out. She was young and innocent despite the tremendous amount of pain she had probably already suffered…she didn't need to understand about the kind of people John and her were, not yet.

"Ready for lunch, ya'll? Cause I'm starved!" Jubilee exclaimed and everyone agreed and formed up into a tight group. It was like they were on their own kind of X-Men mission and to a degree, they all took it just as seriously. For the most part, anyway. There was also the fact that it was a little late for lunch and most of them were just about as starving as Jubilee claimed to be.

They rounded the corner and found the dining room was, for the moment, completely deserted.

"We beat the teachers here! Awesome. Quick, everyone grab food and sit down." Bobby ordered gleefully, leading the way to the fridge. All the food for lunch was already prepared and everyone reached in and grabbed a sandwich and some chips off the counter, chatting excitedly the entire way. Once they had gotten the food, they turned back to the table and stared for a second.

"Hmmm. Does Cyclops and the Professor sit anywhere in particular?" Morgana asked, calculating how best to piss them both off if they came into the room and discovered them there.

"The Professor always sits there, at the head of the table. Cyclops always sits on his right." Rogue pointed out the spots, noting the lack of chair at the head of the table where the Professor wheels in. Morgana and John shared a gleeful look and before she could suggest it, he was already moving the spare chair in the corner of the room and pushing it in at the head of the table.

"You wanna be the Professor or the douche?"

"Well John, I'm fairly certain Cyclops utterly despises me right now so I think he'd find it extremely offensive if I were in his spot. I'll be Cyke and you'll be our fearless leader. Team, positions please!" Morgana ordered and plopped down in her chair next to John as Bobby took the seat next to him. Rogue sat next to Morgana, Jubilee across from her, and Kurt took his spot at the end text to Rogue.

Out of them all, Kurt seemed to be the shyest. He also seemed to be older than them all and he definitely won the award for most bizarre looking. He was probably made fun of a lot, hence the quiet nature and the shy looks he shot everyone as he mostly kept his eyes down and on his food. Morgana made a note to try and talk to him later, making him feel a little more comfortable.

 _You're going to end up the mother of the group. Or worse…the leader._

Well, that was certainly an odd thought. And since she was starving, she tried to ignore it and instead focused on chowing down with everyone else. They were all there to annoy the teachers when they finally arrived but more than that, they were actually having fun. Everyone was talking and laughing, getting along brilliantly and having a lot of fun. It felt so homey and warm…Morgana could definitely get used to those feelings.

And it just happened to get even better when the teachers walked in.

"….what the hell?" Everyone stopped and looked up, sharing a grin when they realized standing in the doorway, looking absolutely horrified was Cyclops with the Professor and other teachers behind him. Cyclops looked beyond shocked and annoyed that the table was filled with teenagers but the Professor was trying to hide a huge smile of pleasure at seeing them all together.

"Heyyy, Cyke! Yo, ya'll are late for lunch. You guys can scoot in." Morgana waved enthusiastically.

"You're in my seat! What the hell are you all doing here for lunch anyway?"

"Can we not have lunch together? And seriously, you need to stop with the "my seat" thing. We're a family and this is our table, right?" John offered with a grin.

"Shut up! And you all haven't been together all summer! What changed?" Oh, so they hadn't hung out together all summer? So Morgana had somehow managed to get them all together after just one day there? That was weird.

"We all wanted to meet the newest student and say hi and hang out together and have fun." Jubilee explained with a smile, probably the least malicious of them all at that moment. She wanted to watch the world burn with them but she was just so damn happy all the time, especially now that she seemingly had a new friend to chat with. Being around so many boys had been stressful for her because she missed gossiping with the gals and Rogue was moody about that kind of thing.

"It's wonderful to see you students getting along so well." Professor Xavier commented mildly, seeming to be amused and pleased at the development. Cyclops still looked like he was about to have an aneurism but the other teachers seemed strangely content with the situation. Wolverine's eyes glowed at Morgana from behind the other teachers and he flashed her an amused smirk, impressed with her attitude.

"C'mon, Cyke. Pull up a chair! I'm sure we can fit you between me and John. This John fellow…I like him. Pretty sure we're gonna be inseparable…oooh, maybe we can get all our classes together. What do you teach exactly?" Morgana grinned and Cyclops paled, the thought of teaching the two of them in the same class something that hadn't quite reached his mind just yet. Oh god, that was horrifying. John alone was a nightmare in class but adding Morgana to the mix would be like adding flames to a tornado.

"Naturally you attach yourself to the only true hooligan we have at the school. I'm not surprised. You're going to be nothing but trouble." Cyclops snarled and Morgana narrowed her eyes slightly, pissed off he would call her nothing but trouble in front of everyone. That didn't seem very mature and teacher-y of him.

"Trouble? I just don't have a stick stuck so far up my ass I can't bend over. You wouldn't understand though."

"Yeah and hooligan? I resent that. I'm a growing boy, Cyke…those torched eyebrows of yours was a result of my super unstable mutation. I did say sorry, didn't I?"

"Why you little – "

"Children!" Professor Xavier shouted, getting everyone's attention. Ha, Cyclops looked…he so had daddy issues with the professor. Regardless, everyone gave him their full attention for the moment.

"It seems our students are having a wonderful lunch so I propose we have lunch in the study. Cyclops, grab our food and let's give them some privacy." The Professor ordered and Cyclops nodded, pulling the pre-made food from the refrigerator. With another smile and nod, the teachers departed and that left the students alone with their victory.

"Wow! That really worked!" Rogue exclaimed, smiling as everyone shared a high five. They really were a force of nature put together, at least when it came to Cyclops.

"Finally! And now we can actually enjoy our lunch in peace and quiet. Well, not exactly quiet but a lot more peace then when we have to behave for the teachers." Jubilee said and everyone resumed their lunch as they all shared jokes, laughter, and fun. Morgana was getting along well with everyone, which was pretty much the most amazing thing to her. She was so used to being the outcast or weirdo or being too crash and crude for anyone to want to spend time with her. But now she was sitting at a table full of mutants just like her and everyone was talking to her and laughing.

Well, everyone except for Kurt who still seemed fairly quiet and shy. Time for her to try and break the ice with him.

"So Kurt, I know everyone's super cool nicknames but yours. What it is, if I can ask." Morgana said suddenly and Kurt jumped at the end of the table and then looked down, probably blushing. It was kind of hard to tell underneath all that blue.

"My name is Nightcralwer, fraulein." Well, that was interesting. He had a heavy German accent, which was definitely not what she was expecting. His English was completely understandable and lovely but the German in his voice and his use of fraulein was an utter delight. Morgana had always had a weakness for accents.

"You have a lovely accent, Nightcrawler. I have no idea what your power is from your name, though." Morgana said with a smile, not quite comfortable being nice and giving people compliments but he was obviously a fellow student and she kind of needed to be on everyone's good sides. Better to have all allies, even if being social was uncomfortable and stressed her out, then all enemies. And she wasn't so naïve to think she would remain friends with them all…perhaps something bad would happen and she would lose a friend or worse gain an enemy…that was when she needed good allies on her side.

Kurt looked up and smiled. All of a sudden, there was a poof of smoke where he had been sitting and he disappeared. Morgana gasped and glanced around until she heard a polite cough and looked up to see him hanging from the chandler that hung above the dining table. Nobody else looked phased so she figured that was definitely his power and he did it enough times for it not to be so freaky.

Another puff of smoke and he was back in his chair, a faint and lingering smell of sulfur drifting through the room. Kurt grinned at her astonished face and inclined his head.

"I can teleport almost anywhere in ze world, fraulein. Ze further away, ze harder." He explained and that absolutely delighted her. Being able to just…poof away to wherever you wanted, whenever? That sounded like a dream power. Yet again she was cursing the fact that the only useful thing she could do was literally not die.

"That's epic! You've officially got one of the coolest powers I've ever heard of or seen." Morgana exclaimed and this time she definitely thought she could see the blush tinging his blue skin. It was kind of really adorable.

"Ummm, hello? I can create and control fire. That's definitely cooler!" John complained, annoyed with the lack of attention. He seemed very cat like…he only wanted attention whenever HE wanted attention.

"Oh stuff it, flame-tard. I can create and control ice…I'll freeze your flames." Bobby rolled his eyes as he started taking his plate to the sink. John immediately flamed up at the challenge to his powers.

"What did you say? Do you have any idea how stupid you sound? I can burn through your ice!"

"Nope. You'd lose and lose hard."

"Do you wanna take this outside, ya frigid bitch?"

"Maybe I do!" Bobby didn't look very mad but John was clenching his fist and looking like he was really ready to step outside and fight. Wow, he really did have a temper…a little lack of attention and a joking insult and bam! He was on fire – haha pun – and ready to fight. It was both amusing and irritating; the lack of control was definitely not going to be good in a combat situation. Time for her to step in.

"Boys, you're both pretty!" Morgana yelled and Bobby's sarcastic look of challenge faded quickly into a smile. John whirled around and looked ready to set anyone who looked at him wrong on fire but she ignored that look and stepped forward, patting his shoulder on the way to the sink.

"Look, you two have an equal kind of ability. Hush John, I'm not commenting whether you're both equally strong. But you're fire and ice…that's similar, ya know? So it's possible the fight would be pretty magnificent and maybe even equally talented. One day, I'm sure ya'll will have this epic fight and god, I cannot wait to watch. But you two don't even have complete grasp of your powers yet…it would be a true shame to rush into a fight that won't be as epic as the coming fight. So the two of you need to just try to get along as well as possible until you're ready to fight."

Morgana explained all this lightly; she had a feeling that maybe Jubilee and Rogue even thought she was kidding. But she really wasn't. The two of them had equal, awesome powers and one day they would fight. Maybe they'd be enemies or maybe they'd be just testing their powers as allies, she didn't know and it didn't really matter. Just one day, they would have an amazing brawl and she was hopeful she'd be there to watch it.

"Ummm…Morgana? Don't ya have a doctor's appointment about now?" Rogue asked, staring at the clock on the wall that read 12:57…her appointment was in exactly three minutes. And she still had no idea where the doctor's lab was, which only added to her anxiety.

"What doctor's appointment?" Jubilee asked, as Morgana quickly cleaned up the rest of the table and rushed around the room fixing things.

"I have to get a physical before school starts basically, than tomorrow is school shopping with Rogue, and Sunday is my power evaluation."

"Oh mah god! Shopping? I love shopping and we never get to go anywhere fun! Oh please Morgana, can we come?"

"What, all of you?"

"Sure! We never get to get out of the mansion by ourselves and obviously a teacher is going to have you to take you so we can go."

"Umm….sure. That sounds like fun, I guess. Ask Rogue about it since the Professor wants her in charge of the shopping trip. I've no idea who's supposed to be chaperoning us but trust me, I'll force them to let ya'll come. That okay with you, Rogue?" Morgana asked, not wanting to ruin the trip if it was supposed to be just her and Rogue bonding. Thankfully she didn't look crushed or annoyed but instead smiled and seemed genuinely happy.

"It's gonna be fun! Hanging out with everyone is nice. I'll make the arrangements with the Professor during mah session tonight and ah'll let you know at dinner time." Rogue informed her and Morgana grinned, glancing around at everyone and seeing they all looked generally excited about the idea. She really was somewhat fitting in, wasn't she?

"Hey, reminds me! Let's all meet at Morg's room at 5 tonight and have dinner here again. Keep old Cyke on his toes and send him the message that this isn't gonna be ending anytime soon." John announced with a look of challenge and bravado illuminating his face. Wow, another night and another group dinner with everyone? Lunch and dinner with her little "group?" She tried not to acknowledge exactly how happy that made her, for whatever reason.

"Sounds good! Gotta run but I'll see ya'll later." Morgana exclaimed and everyone gave her a brief wave before she ran out of the room and down the hall towards the stairs that led into the basement…secret…batcave…area thing. She thought for sure she remembered where those were and it only took her two minutes and 4 wrong doors before she found the right one.

Morgana threw open the door and started to descend the darkened staircase, stopping at the top of the steps. She had been so hurried to get out of the dining room and to run to make to the her appointment on time…she had completely forgotten that she had no real clue where Hank's office was or how to get there. Maybe it wasn't even in the super-secret batcave area. Maybe it was upstairs in a normal office by where the Professor's office was.

"Damn it. Why didn't I ask one of them?"

A voice behind her spoke.

"Ask one of them what?" Morgana fell down the stairs.

A/N

I AM ONLY AN HOUR FROM MIDNIGHT, I AM SO SORRY. It's been another crazy week, ya'll. I hope this chapter was amusing! Good golly but Kurt is just too precious. And I do love John, he's such a fun asshole. Though good lord, remembering everyone's accent is hard, ya'll! Let me know if they're accents ever get annoying and I'll try to adjust them. ALSO, GUYS, I'm going to Florida on Saturday and I'll be going to the Tampa Bay Comic Con. If anyone of ya'll are Florida fans and wanna meet me in person, let me know! I'm always down to meet new friends :) Happy Wolverine Wednesday and have a great week!


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

It was absolutely official. Morgana was going to have a word with the Professor about his students and teachers sneaking up on her to be cool or mysterious. That absolutely had to stop before she ended up dead at the bottom of the stairs…which was practically what was about to happen.

Upon hearing the voice right behind her, Morgana spun around with a gasp and her foot slipped off the step she was standing upon. She began to fall backwards with a scream, dreading the inevitable pain and broken bones that was surely about to follow. Of course she'd heal after a few minutes but she dreaded pain, like any sane person.

But before she could slam into any other steps or fall crumbled to the floor, an arm reached out and wrapped around her waist, yanking her backwards and into a strong chest. Morgana grasp onto the person desperately, heart pounding wildly in her chest.

"Careful kitling." A low voice grumbled in amusement above her and she instantly relaxed. Oh, so it was Wolverine being creepy and sneaking up on her, what a huge shock. At the very least it wasn't Cyclops or someone she didn't know…that made it slightly less awkward that she was clinging to him desperately.

"You've GOT to stop doing that. Jesus, it's not proven I can't die of a heart attack." Morgana gasped and pulled away from Wolverine, steadying herself from falling again by clutching on the railing. The mutant man stood on the stop above her, dressed in his signature jeans and plaid button down. He also wore what was beginning to be a familiar amused smirk, apparently entertained by her fear.

"You can't, believe me." He informed her and she grunted, flouncing down the steps. She didn't want to risk accidently falling twice in a row…her pride wouldn't have been able to handle that.

"Well, thanks for that cheery information. What are you doing down here anyway? Shouldn't you be out hunting small, defenseless animals?" Morgana said snappily, not quite calmed down from her near death experience. Wolverine descended the steps a bit slower than she did, taking his time and looking just as calm as he could be.

"Who says that's not what I'm doing?" He smirked at her and she felt something similar to a blush rising up in her cheeks.

"Who says I'm defenseless?" She shot back, despite knowing how true it was. She could manage not dying but when it came to anything self-defense…well she had seen Karate Kid before, so maybe that counted for something.

"We both know that answer. And anyway, I'm down here to escort you to your doctor's appointment. Figured you wouldn't know the way." Wolverine explained and Morgana had to relax a little, a wave of relief washing over her. She would still probably end up being extremely late but at the very least now she would know where she was going.

"Oh…well, in that case, I guess you can lead the way." Morgana relented, offering up a tiny smile which was all the gratitude she felt she could muster up at this time. Wolverine nodded and strode forward, naturally taking the lead as she trailed a step behind him. The hallways down in the basement bat-cave area were all metal and all of them looked alike but Wolverine had obviously been down there enough times in the years that maunvering through them took very little effort.

"So you've made friends." Wolverine stated suddenly, jolting Morgana out of her trance as she glanced up and around, trying to memorize her way through the maze. She had the distinct feeling she'd need to know her way around down here sooner rather than later.

"I guess so. Rogue is nice and meeting everyone else…just kinda happened." Morgana shrugged, not used to hearing the words "you" and "friends" in the same sentence. Even before she had discovered her mutation, she hadn't been very popular or had many friends.

"Seems like you have even more reasons to stay now." Wolverine commented, looking fairly pleased that she was starting to see his weird point of view that staying at the mansion was the obvious, right thing to do.

"Don't be too pleased with yourself. I'm here for the time being, who knows for how long?" Morgana grunted, crossing her arms defensively over her chest as though to protect herself from the man who pushed too much into her life. She, by all rights, was closer with Rogue and the others than she was with Wolverine but he seemed to understand her too much and could pry too far inside of her. She didn't like that.

"You're staying." Wolverine stated, as though there wasn't an argument involved, as if there wasn't a question. Morgana was opening her mouth to ask why he would think that and argue that probably wasn't true when suddenly Wolverine turned right and stood in front of a door.

"That's Hank's office." He jerked his chin forward and Morgana nodded. He stepped aside but didn't make a move to walk away so she shrugged and stepped forward, rapping sharply on the door.

"Come in!" A cheery voice called and she hesitantly pushed the door open, mentally steeling herself for what was to follow. In reality, a doctor's appointment shouldn't bother her due to the fact she healed automatically and therefore nothing he did to her would matter for more than maybe a day or two…but there was something about doctors that had always made her uncomfortable. But she wouldn't show weakness now, especially not when Wolverine was still in the hallway.

Morgana opened the office door and slipped inside, starting to shut the door behind her. Before she could, Wolverine grabbed the door frame to prevent her from closing it and squeezed in. He was the one who shut the door, after making sure he was on the other side. Morgana stared at him in surprise, curious as to why he was staying yet again.

"Wolverine, what a delightful surprise to see you here this afternoon. Certainly unexpected." Hank commented from behind them and Morgana remembered exactly why she was there. She turned around and instantly plastered a smile on her face, hoping she could smile the fear away. The furry mutant was sitting by an examining table that sat in the middle of the very large room. In the corner sat a desk with a computer and in the back were two tables full of vials of weird liquids, some of them smoking. Everything was sterile, metallic, and very….science lab-like. It was instantaneously scary.

"I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm Morgana and you must be Dr. McCoy." Morgana said with as much charm as she could muster, sticking out her hand. Hank laughed in delight at her manners and engulfed her tiny hand with his massive paw and shook it gently, his eyes twinkling in mirth.

"A mutant with manners, my! We seem to be lacking them around here. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Now, I believe the Professor said you need a physical before starting school."

"Yep, I'm the lucky one."

"Physicals are not fun, I completely agree. I promise to make this as quick and painless as possible. Now, I shall leave you this incredibly attractive gown, if you could just slip out of your shirt and pants and put that on. Wolverine and myself will step outside while you change, just give a holler when you're done."

Morgana's heart rate skyrocketed. Changing? She had to change out of her clothes? It wasn't enough that she was there, having a dandy little school physical, but now she'd be even more exposed?

Morgana swallowed hard and nodded, feeling immense relief when he turned away. He didn't see how anxious she had suddenly become, she was masking it as much as she could but when he turned around, she completely slumped forward. She was fighting the urge to bolt at every moment.

Hank opened the door and stepped out, holding it open for Wolverine. The older mutant leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. He didn't budge.

"I'm not leaving. Shut the door. She'll call when she's done." Wolverine grunted and Morgana's head snapped again, her heart rating spiking even more but for different reasons. Hank paused and stared at Wolverine in confusion.

"Wolverine, you don't know her and she needs privacy to change, I can't let – "

"She's scared. Doesn't like doctors and doesn't like the idea of changing. Not leaving." Wolverine snarled, the animal in him coming back out as his protective side flared up. Hank looked between the two of them with a questioning look on his face and Morgana understood. Why should Wolverine care about her and why should he or she be comfortable enough to sit in the room with her while she changed clothes?

Morgana shouldn't be comfortable with that. She was terrified of the thought of a doctor looking at her bare skin so why should Wolverine being there make a difference? He was actually going to be in the room when she physically changed clothes…that should make things even worse, make her even more anxious.

But yet…she didn't want to be alone…and she trusted him to a degree…he was like her. He wasn't going to die, he understood…and he followed her when she ran and no one had ever tried that before.

"He can stay, Dr. McCoy." Morgana said simply and she thought she detected the slightest hint of pride and joy flash through Wolverine's eyes. Maybe he didn't think she'd accept him so willingly, maybe he was expecting her to toss him out or freak out. But no, if he wanted to stay to be supportive towards her, she wasn't going to turn him away. That was remarkably kind of him.

"If you're comfortable. I would not mention this to the Professor or Cyclops, however. This is rather unorthodox. Though I suppose the two of you have bonded to some degree, enough for this to be a comforting gesture from one lost soul to the other. So I will allow it but otherwise…mums the word, as it were." Hank informed them with a kind, crinkly eyed smile as he disappeared out the door and pushed it closed. Leaving Morgana standing there holding a thin, white surgical gown and the older, somewhat intimidating mutant standing there staring at her.

"Ummm….so….turn around?"

"Ain't nothing I haven't seen before."

"Ya haven't seen me so turn around."

"Hmph. Fine. For now." Wolverine grumbled, turning his back on her to get her slightly more privacy. Face flaming, she quickly unbuckled her jeans and slid them off. Next came the shirt over her head and once both were off, she pulled the gown over her and put her clothes neatly on the table by the examining chair.

"You can look now." Morgana muttered, sitting on the examining table without looking up. She had just changed clothes in front of a grown man, something she definitely had never done before. She might be a mutant who would never die, someone who lived on their own for quite a while, who was used to fighting her way to survive. But that didn't mean that hadn't been one of the more awkward moments of her life.

Wolverine turned around and his rough face remained the same but his eyes quickly scanned her up and down. He took in her defense posture, hunched over and arms crossed, the way she avoided his eyes and the slight tinge of red upon her cheeks. She expected him to call out to Hank or open the door to let him back in but instead, he approached her on the table.

"What's wrong, kit?" He asked and his voice was low, rough, soothing. It felt comfortable and real, unlike all the fake accents of concern and the modifications other people used. His voice was him, all the time, never changing.

"I uh…I don't like doctors…and I don't like not having my skin…covered." Morgana mumbled.

"Why?"

"Because…I don't want people to touch me….my skin. It…makes me uncomfortable and…scared…" Morgana said the last part as quietly as she could, regretting it the moment the words were out of her mouth. Please don't let him have heard. She didn't want him to hear that, that she was scared and nervous….he could already tell by the way she was acting, didn't have to make it worse by verbalizing.

Wolverine didn't say a word. Instead, he slowly raised his hand so she could watch every moment and reached it out to her face. She flinched away and froze, not understanding what was happening or why he was reaching for her face.

But before she could say anything or flinch again, Wolverine – with a delicacy she didn't realize he possessed – brushed his thumb across her cheek. Her eyes that she had closed in confusion popped open. He stroked her cheek once more and then trailed his thumb down her neck, resting them on her collar bone for a few seconds. From that position, he looked down and caught her eyes in his.

"Don't be afraid, kitlin. I ain't gonna hurt ya." Wolverine said softly, feeling her fear thrumming underneath his hand. She swallowed and nodded, not knowing how else to respond to his sudden tenderness and reassurance. Why was he even touching her? It was so out of the blue and unexpected …but she wasn't upset. He wasn't hurting or hitting her and it felt nice and she even felt herself relaxing slightly.

Morgana opened her mouth to say something when suddenly a knock sounded on the door.

"Everything okay in there? Safe to reenter?" Hank called through the door, breaking Morgana's trance. She glanced between the door and Wolverine, questioning him with her eyes. Wolverine withdrew his hands and stepped back a few feet, still close but not close enough to arouse suspicious for…whatever they had been doing.

"Come." Wolverine commanded sharply and crossed his arms, leaning against the wall as he surveyed the room and then resumed his silent watch over Morgana. It was both endearing in some ways and creepy in others.

Hank opened the door slowly and peeked in, seemingly relieved when he found merely Morgana sitting with her legs dangling from the table and – what he perceived to be – a terrified look on her face. Wolverine stood against the wall and didn't seem to have bothered her or tried anything the Professor would find offensive. So it seems everything was okay and Hank was in the clear for now.

"Okay! Now that you're all dressed and ready to go, let's begin the exam." Hank said cheerily and Morgana tried very hard not to moan out loud. Instead she silently cursed everyone and everything for making her go through with a stupid doctor's appointment when she hated with a passion doctors, people touching her, or anything relating to her past. And she had a feeling questions were going to be asked.

The exam started off very well. Hank took out a stethoscope and started to press it against her back, her chest, asking her to breathe in and out. His hands were furry but warm so it made even the cold touch of the steel stethoscope bearable in comparison. He checked her reflexes, had her lay down to check her organs, checked her ears, nose, throat. He didn't talk much except to explain what he was doing, where he'd be touching…for that she was eternally grateful and she even managed to keep from flinching for the most part. Other than that and asking her if she remembered her vaccinations – she didn't see why that mattered when she couldn't die, really the entire point of a physical seemed moot – he was blissfully quiet about personal questions.

The worst moment came first, when it was time for him to draw blood. He instructed her to stick out her arm and he would quickly stab her with the needle and draw the blood, doing this swiftly to avoid pain and to avoid her skin healing around the needle. But even the thought of it going quickly was enough to make her anxious and she started to feel her heart beating faster and faster in her chest, rising up her throat.

Without a word, almost like he could sense – could he hear…maybe he had super hearing too – her anxiety and rapid heartbeat, Wolverine moved to stand by the side of her table. Without a word or a glance in her direction, he placed his hand on her shoulder and gripped tightly.

"Breath, kit. It'll be over in a second." His voice rumbled close to her ear and she was so enthralled by how it almost sounded like a purr when suddenly a pinch of pain pricked her arm.

"There we go, all done!" Hank declared and withdrew the needle. She glanced down at her arm where he had stabbed her and traced a finger along her skin. She watched with the same fascination it always caused as the skin pulled together, reformed, and then went back to being just…skin. No matter how many times she watched it, she always found it kind of beautiful and always had to feel it afterwards, as though making sure it was truly okay.

"Now, your physical is almost complete. I just need you to answer a few questions and you're free to go." Morgana's heart sank into her knees. She knew it, she just knew it…there was absolutely no way in hell she was going to be walking out of there without them prying intimate details from her past. She just wanted to her past to stay dead but lately it kept coming back to life more often than an apparently dead horror movie serial killer.

Worst still, Wolverine was there to witness it.

"Okay. But my medical records and any information you learn from me here…I want this kept between the people in this room and the Professor. I, under no circumstances, want my personal history and physical body to be discussed with any of the other teachers without my verbal consent. Is that clear?" Morgana stated firmly, the "I'm an adult and this is legal language I learnt from SVU" attitude coming out in full.

"I completely agree. If you wish, we can discuss this privately?" He asked hesitantly, shooting a look at Wolverine.

"I'm staying." He said firmly before she could answer. Hank started to open his mouth again but she cut him off.

"He stays." She said simply, not knowing what else to say.

"Okay then. Well, first off, could you explain a little more in depth about your mutant ability? The Professor said you "can't die and heal really fast"…can you elaborate on that?"

"Not that much to elaborate on. I discovered many years ago that anytime I sustain any sort of injury, cut, bruise…basically any kind of wound, it will heal back in seconds pretty much. Since my mutant abilities came out, I haven't gotten sick at all, not even allergies and I was allergic to pollen and strawberries before this all came about. I had a strawberry milkshake a few weeks ago – made with real strawberries too – by accident and absolutely nothing happened. So I'm assuming I won't ever get sick. I also haven't really…physical changed much since I turned 14. Height, breast size, weight…pretty much everything is exactly the same, no changes. I'm assuming I'm immortal at this point but I won't know that for certain until…well, until I'm like 90 and I die or keep living."

Morgana explained all this calmly and coldly, not being very bothered by her mutation. Well, she hated it and thought it was the most useless thing ever, the only thing it really was doing was preventing her from forming any real bonds with human beings. But it didn't scare her or make her feel like there was something horrible wrong with her in comparison to "normal" people. She could imagine Rogue got far more upset when talking about her particular gifts.

Hank nodded and made some notes on the clipboard he held in his massive paw. She sneaked a peek at Wolverine and saw him staring at the floor with a glazed looking in his eyes, deep in thought over something.

"Fascinating. That's very similar to Wolverine's mutation. The only thing he seems to have over you is he was born with bone claws that would shoot out of his hands that are now coated with adamantium." Hank informed her, which she found fascinating. Bone claws…coated in the strongest metal on the planet? That was definitely something ferocious, no wonder he was legendary for being one of the strongest mutants on the X-Men team.

"Well, I don't know of any weird, added bones. All I can do is heal and not die, not very spectacular." Morgana shrugged with a frown, annoyed at the attention her powers always seemed to bring. Wolverine made a soft noise of disagreement in his throat for whatever reason but she ignored him. Hank marked another thing on his notepad before glancing up.

"When did you discover your ability to heal? At what age?" Oh dear god, these questions were getting personal fast. Too fast…too personal…she was dreading where they were heading.

"Umm…I was about 10…I fell pretty hard and skinned my knees and they healed in a minute. I used to be super clumsy so that happened a lot and they kept healing. I think tried making little cuts and they would heal too so I figured I had some kind of mutation." Hank made another mark on his clipboard.

"Now, how many times have you knowingly broken bones since then that have healed?" Okay, that question was less fun. Way less fun.

"Ummm. I've broken my arm 2 times – right both times– I've broken my leg twice – right and left – my wrist around 6 times, ankle 3, collar bone once, skull fracture once, can't remember how many fingers and toes throughout the years. I'm very…umm….fragile." Morgana tried to remember all the broken bones as she stared determinedly at Hank's credentials he had hanging on the wall. She acted as uninterested as possible in what she was saying and definitely was not going to look at Wolverine.

Morgana finally looked up and saw Hank scribbling furiously in his notes. Finally, he looked up again with an apologetic expression. This question was definitely not going to be fun.

"I'm so sorry to have to ask this if this upsets you but you obviously know you can't die…how did you come by this knowledge? Did you experience life threatening injuries and survive?" Hank asked and Morgana stiffened up, forcing her eyes to the ground.

"I was 13 and pushed down the stairs by someone. When I landed, I could feel and hear my neck break. I couldn't move and everything started to go dark. Pretty sure I broke some ribs too, because I couldn't breathe for a few minutes. Before I went totally unconscious, I felt the bones in my neck start to shift around and feeling returned back to my legs and arms after a few seconds. Then I could stand, breath, and walk around like nothing happened. I figured if I couldn't heal, I would have died or at the very least been paralyzed." Morgan retold the story, keeping only one detail out.

"I…I'm sorry, Morgana." Hank murmured as she listened to him writing a sizeable amount down into his notes. She hoped that was a good enough amount of information to satisfy him for the appointment.

"It's no big deal, really. Not like I died." Morgana shrugged, shifting easily into her devil may care attitude. The past was the past and no matter how awful, horrific, or scarring it was…it was the past and she couldn't change it. Best to just repress all memories and work hard on making news ones instead to comfort her during the nightmares.

"Well, this is a lot of information I've managed to gather and I have your blood to test. I believe we can be done for today, so I'll step out again to let you change and then I'll answer any of your questions, okay?" Hank said kindly and Morgana nodded, instantly tensing when she realized she was going to be alone in the room with Wolverine changing again. Hank put his hand on the door, hesitated, and glanced back into the room.

"I'm assuming you're going to stay?"

"Yes. Leave." Wolverine growled and Morgana winced at how annoyed he sounded. She knew he was going to have some kind of negative emotion but she couldn't understand why he was angry.

Regardless, Hank nodded and opened the door, stepping out into the hall and shutting the door behind him. Once he was gone, Morgana slipped out of her hospital gown without a word. She was content with the silence, content with picking up her clothes and getting dressed without talking about anything she had said or anything that happened. But naturally, silence didn't last.

"Who the fuck did it to you?" Wolverine snarled, his voice full of fury and passion. It was so violently angry sounding, it was enough for Morgana to whirl around and drop her clothes on the ground. Wolverine was still standing – no longer leaning – against the door but his arms were no longer crossed. Instead they were splayed at his side, coiled with angry, tense muscles, and she could just imagine it was only his force of will preventing his claws from slipping out and slashing at her imaginary assailants.

"It doesn't matter." Morgana gasped, suddenly very afraid. He was asking personal questions, growling, he looked so angry…all of this was bringing back bad memories and she could feel her muscles tensing. Before she could say another word, Wolverine was stomping across the room towards her, growling all the way. She gasped and backed up, her virtually naked back hitting the wall and pinning her in place. This was the worst situation for her to be in and the anger was starting to make her truly fearful. She hadn't seen him mad yet and didn't know what to expect.

Wolverine reached out for her and she resisted the urge to flinch.

Wolverine grabbed her shoulders, gripping hard but not hard enough to really hurt. He shook her lightly, which forced her wide eyes to lock into his wild brown ones.

"The fuck you mean it doesn't matter? It matters. You matter. Why the fuck wouldn't it matter?" He snarled into her face and she suddenly realized, he wasn't mad at her…or her lack of protecting herself…he was mad at whoever had hurt her in the past.

"But I can heal…it doesn't matter if I get hurt." Morgana whispered, citing the same logic she always used. That was what she always told herself in the past….feeling pain, having people hurt her, it didn't matter because she could just instantly heal. That made every injury pointless and every person who tried to hurt her just a passing moment.

Wolverine growled and stared deep into her eyes. She could tell he was furious, wanting to rip the false beliefs out of her violently, somehow force her to see the truth of the matter. But somehow, he could sense or smell that she was desperately clinging to the belief that she could heal so whatever had happened to her in the past hadn't mattered. If he tried to take that away from her now when she was still adjusting to being at the mansion and meeting people who – hopefully – wouldn't end up hurting and scaring…it could have terrible, damaging effects on her.

So instead, Wolverine snarled and slammed his fist into the wall by her head. She jumped but remained still, keeping her eyes locked onto him. Morgana breathed in and out rapidly, trying to keep herself calm.

"It matters to me, okay? It fucking matters to me." Wolverine said, still with anger in his voice but managing to soften them a little so as not to scare her more than he already had. He leaned his head down as he spoke and – to her absolute confusion and awkwardness – started pushing his face into her neck. She was stiff but he nudged her head to the side slightly and her breath hitched as he rubbed his nose against the nape of her neck.

It was a simple gesture, something wildly animalistic about it…but comforting. Having a man probably twice her age – or maybe way more, immortal and all that – rubbing his face against her neck should be awkward and if she thought about it and if she focused on it, yeah then it was probably awkward and she'd probably die inside about it later. But at the moment, after dealing with stupid emotions and then him scaring her half to death, it just felt really, shockingly soothing.

But it just intensified the question in her head that she had been screaming at herself since the moment she walked into the doctor's office and realized he wasn't leaving.

"Why? Why does it matter to you?" Morgana whispered, keeping perfectly still as Wolverine went about his merry way nuzzling and pressing against her neck like an overgrown wolf. She could feel his warm breath as he stopped to sniff and nuzzle one area in particular. She thought maybe he was just holding himself back from…licking her or something and she was happy he was. Having him lick her neck suddenly might cause her to freak out…or faint….from fear, naturally…not from anything else….

"Because you matter." Wolverine informed her, which just shocked her even more.

Morgana was opening her mouth to ask another question a knock sounded against the door.

"Ummm…Morgana, Wolverine? Is everything okay in there?" Hank called, sounding hesitant but not particularly worried.

"Wait." Wolverine growled in impatience and pulled away from Morgana. He leaned down and scooped up her pants and shirt and thrust them into her hands, indicating it was definitely time for her to get dressed and get of there. She thanked God for the little bit of normality that him handing her his clothes provided because she desperately needed to get out of that room.

Morgana quickly pulled her pants and shirt on, as Wolverine moved to the door and opened it after glancing back to make sure she was fully clothed. Hank peeked his head in to make sure everyone was clothed and not dead before stepping into the room.

"Well, thank you very, very much for coming down and having the exam. I'm sorry if it potentially brought up some rough memories but I have everything I need for now and now we can just wait until I complete the tests on your blood and mutation before we talk again. But I'm sure I'll see you at a meal or something this week in school."

"All that sounds good to me. What do you teach?"

"A few subjects, primarily biology and science. I'm a tough grader so pay attention."

"Got it, I'll keep all my slacking off for Cyke's class." Hank laughed at that and she smiled, feeling more relaxed now that the door was open and she was free to leave. She glanced between the two men before clearing her throat and edging backwards.

"Well, I'll be going now. Thanks for being patient with a very non-happy patient. I'll see you around, okay?" Morgana said and Hank waved goodbye, already focused on bringing the vile of blood to whatever lab thingy he was going to use to examine it. She tried closing the door as she exited – already breathing easier now that she was away from all the medical equipment – but naturally the door didn't shut. She almost wasn't surprised when Wolverine trailed silently after her.

Morgana guessed Wolverine was going to want to continue discussing what occurred earlier. Yay.

She could really use a drink.

A/N

Real talk time, guys and gals. I got my first "bad" review. Actually, no tea, no shade…not even bad, just very VERY thorough in pointing out the glaring flaws in this story. I was a bit down for a bit after reading it but then I realized something. This story isn't "new". I wrote the majority of this a few years ago for NaNoWriMo. It was written as fast as I could to make my nightly deadlines. And the MC, Morgana, is loosely based on a more fleshed out character in an original series I've been writing for the past few years. I know this fic isn't hyper realistic to the comics. I know the characters aren't always perfectly IN character. And for the past few weeks, I've been very sick so there might be more errors than I'd like to post. But in all the months/years I've been posting, I've received so many lovely reviews. So many people who just genuinely enjoy my little story. So even though it isn't the best (and I know it isn't and I'm aware of its flaws) I'm going to keep on trucking. If you want a more hyper-realistic, extremely well written X-Men fic…I can recommend several. But if this story can make even one person smile, laugh, or bring a bit of sunshine into their day…yep, I'm gonna keep posting. I appreciate the constructive, critical criticism and for future stories I'll definitely be implementing it. Got a few Supernatural stories in the mix, Iron Man, True Blood, even a M*A*S*H one. But this is Morgana's little story and I'm going to keep on trucking. And if I can keep it up, there's a sequel planned and an Avengers crossover as well. Thank you to everyone who likes this story and stuck with it. You guys are awesome and I hope I continue to make ya'll happy. Love to all! Happy Wolverine Wednesday!


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

Morgana glanced down at the watch she generally always wore and realized it was already 4PM. She was surprised at this fact; it felt like forever but she wasn't aware that all that took 3 hours. That was a pretty damn long for a medical exam. She wondered briefly how long her weird chat/nuzzling moment with Wolverine took…it felt like seconds but had it been longer?

She shook her head to dislodge those thoughts. Wolverine was following her a she navigated her way through the hallways, using memory alone to guide her way. She was doing pretty good for only having been down there twice but soon she was faltering in her steps and glancing around hallways, trying to figure out which generic silver hallway was the right one to take.

Annoyingly, Wolverine didn't just take charge. Instead he watched her struggle with a tiny smile of amusement.

"You lost, kid?"

"Nope. Just taking my time, enjoying the beautiful scenery."

"Bullshit. We've gone down this path 3 times already."

"…I was testing you. To see if you were paying attention."

"You're lost."

"I have been two here exactly twice, I'm doing pretty damn good for twice."

"You are. You're also lost."

"Fine, claws for brains! Show me the way out, since you seem to know everything." Morgana snapped more in embarrassment as she realized he was right and she had gone down this path 3 times already. Wolverine chuckled at her fiery spirit and brushed past her, taking the lead. He seemed born to take the lead and she was okay with this as she had always been content to follow. She hadn't gotten a chance to just relax and follow someone else's lead in her life….for the past few years, she had been on her own and she couldn't really afford to trust anyone but herself. But now, she could trust him to push past her and take the lead and let her just relax, walk, and not have to worry. It was kind of nice.

It was also nice because Wolverine wasn't asking questions. Morgana thought for sure the second she stepped out of the doctor's office, he would be on her to answer who had hurt her and what had happened. But instead, he seemed to content to follow her, tease her, and take the lead. Not that she thought he wasn't going to ask her eventually but for the moment he was content enough with the silence.

After a few minutes, they reached the wooden stairs that led up to the mansion. Morgana sighed a little in relief, glad to be getting out of the constant twisting and turning of metal hallways. She liked natural things and she definitely didn't like feeling confined in any way.

"So…when is dinner in this joint?" Morgana asked awkwardly, as they stood in the wooden hallway to lead to the stairway. Wolverine closed the basement door behind him as he answered.

"5. You have 40 minutes."

"I actually have 30 minutes…Rogue and everyone said they'd be coming to get me ten minutes before dinner."

"You mean your friends?"

"I don't have friends."

"You do now."

"You're really annoying with all this, "oooh you have friends and belong and everything is great now" shit."

"I didn't say everything was great. It isn't great. But it's the kind of life you want to live, want to protect, fight for and die for. It doesn't have to be a great life or a great home but it's mine and it's yours now too. And you do have friends, you just have to be willing to accept them, kitling." Wolverine informed her calmly, his words hitting her hard. Wasn't that the truth? Wasn't that the truth she had always told and believed herself? That her life wasn't easy, wasn't good, wasn't perfect, never would be…but it was hers. It was hers and hers alone and she would live her life to the best of her ability because it was the only life she had and it was the hand she had been dealt.

"What the hell does kitling even mean?" Morgana blurted instead.

"A kit would be a child. A kitling is younger than kit, not quite a kit yet." Wolverine smirked at her as he witnessed Morgana stare and sputter, her eyes wide. She was a child? Oh hell no.

"I am not a child! I'm a grown woman!"

"No, you're a kitling."

"I'm 19, how the frick am I a kitling?"

"I'm over 100, you're a kitling to me, darling." Well, that shut Morgana up effectively. Suddenly she couldn't remember what her next insult or defense was going to be. Instead, all she could do was stare and look him up and down, trying to see what part of him could possibly look over 100. But he didn't, he just looked 40 or so at best…nothing about him looked ancient or gross.

Morgana wanted to ask how he felt being 100 and if he thought she would make it to be that old as well. But the words wouldn't come, all she could do was stare. Wolverine reached out and lightly tapped her chin, making her realize her mouth was still hanging wide open.

"Yer always gonna be a kitling to me, jus accept it. Better get ready for dinner." He informed her lightly and walked away, disappearing down the hall as she stood rooted to the spot and stared after him. She stood there for a few moments longer before shaking her head and deciding she had to get upstairs and spend a few quiet moments alone in her room. She needed a little sense of sanity and peace before she was forced to be around everyone for dinner. Not that she didn't mind spending time with everyone and being social…she was growing increasingly fond of these other teenagers. But occasionally, she needed some time to herself to detox.

Morgana walked calmly up the stairs, no longer worried what she'd do if someone came out of the rooms or randomly appeared. It didn't matter so much considering she had to learn to talk to and be around her new teachers. Ugh, high school all over again…she thought she was done with that.

She reached the top of the stairs and entered her room, sighing as the door shut. Finally she had a few moments of peace…really, only a few minutes. After glancing down at her wristwatch, she realized it was already 4:40 and she had about ten minutes before someone showed up to walk her down to dinner. Or were they ALL supposed to show up at her room for dinner? She couldn't remember but she knew someone would be by ten minutes before to walk with her. She really didn't need anyone to walk with her considering she now could figure out where the dining room was and probably even maneuver the hallways of the basement by herself by now. But then again, it was a simple, kind gesture and it was nice walking with someone rather than walking alone.

Morgana walked over to her bed and collapsed backwards. She wasn't tired in the sense she felt like sleeping but she definitely had very little energy at this point. The physical wasn't too bad, thankfully Hank didn't need to look at any intimate parts other than looking at her upper breast to check on a mole. But he didn't see anything and Wolverine wasn't looking towards her during that moment thankfully. He didn't touch her anywhere that made her uncomfortable and it didn't take much effort; even getting her shot wasn't that bad. All in all, the physical part was stressful but relatively uneventful.

Then he had to ask her questions. She understood it was necessary to get the information so they could have records of her powers and knowledge about her during the school year. But she hated thinking of her past and answering questions about herself; she hated them just in general. But the fact Wolverine heard everything made things ten thousand times worse.

Morgana didn't know how to feel about Wolverine. He was the reason she came to the mansion in the first place, the reason she was staying, and he was the first and only person she had ever met that might live the same length of time as her if not outlive her. Maybe her mutant powers would randomly quit working one day but it didn't seem likely. But she had a feeling that even if she could age or die or be killed at some point, Wolverine couldn't. He was too strong and powerful, part man and part wild animal.

And he seemed to like her in some capacity or another. He seemed to always be there, either when she needed him or just in general. Always watching her or following her, today being the most odd of it all. He followed her into her physical and even refused to leave when she was changing…that wasn't normal, was it? Judging by Hank's reaction, it wasn't typical for him to remain in the room when girls he barely knew changed.

Maybe he just liked young girls? Nope, nope, she didn't believe that for a second. He didn't act pervy towards her and he didn't even look at her during the changing. He had looked at her at the end when they talked but it didn't feel like he was lusting after her. He just felt and sounded so angry and upset, so hell bent on making her see she somehow mattered as he growled, snarled, and rubbed against her soothingly.

He truly was something straight from fiction or the wilderness. He growled and snarled when angry, he always liked to take the lead, and he nuzzled her neck to calm her down. What's funny was that it actually worked despite the fact she hadn't ever been touched by a guy like…well, like that or positively or ever, take your pick. Something about him was fascinating and she was drawn to him. And considering she was stuck with just him for the rest of her life – when Rogue and Bobby and all them were dead, she would be this age and Wolverine would be his age – she guessed she better be able to get along with him.

So far, Morgana got along with him better than most any of the teachers but she didn't know what it would be like when class started. Not that she even wanted to think about class. She had hated highschool, the little of it she had been forced to attend before leaving and starting her journey by herself. She had never been social or popular. At the age of 14 it wasn't cool to be as sarcastic as she was and she couldn't sass the teachers without getting in trouble and that just lead her being labeled a "bad kid" but she wasn't pretty enough to be considered a cool "bad kid". So instead, she was the nerdy, bad kid that everyone tended to avoid.

Morgana ate her meals alone in the corner of the cafeteria most of the time and generally only had one or two friends during her entire time there. And they didn't really last, the pressure of being picked on for being her friend was too much for them and eventually they either stopped being friends with her or she stopped it herself so they wouldn't be bullied more. Kids were fucked up and cruel.

But this was a new time in her life. She was 19, more capable, didn't really care about bullies…and she couldn't die and healed instantly. Plus she seemed to be well liked enough by the small group of students she had met so far. She didn't think that was going to extend to the entire student body but she only needed a handful of friends to make it through the school year alive. Plus the teachers shouldn't be THAT bad.

Except for Cyclops, being in his class was going to suck. But Storm and Hank seemed nice enough and she was certain they both were teaching. She had a feeling all the X-Men were teachers…though she didn't know if the team she had currently met was the entire team or not. Jean wasn't too awful, Professor X's class would probably be boring, and Wolverine? Well, she didn't know exactly how she would survive his class. She was putting money on him teaching something about powers or physical fitness or something like that. Which was going to suck and he would probably try and kill them all…but maybe since he seemed kinda fond of her, he'd go easy on her.

Somehow, she doubted it.

Morgana was about to ponder on another aspect of the day when a loud poofing noise and the feeling of someone landing on top of her took her completely out of her thoughts.

A/N

I know this is super short but it's been such a hellishly busy week! Being back in Florida has kept me very busy. Also I'm going to the Tampa Bay Comic Con this Saturday…if any of my readers are IN Florida and will be attending/wants to meet me, just let me know :) As always, thanks SO much for all the amazing reviews. I truly appreciate and love every single one of them! Happy Wolverine Wednesday/Thursday!


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